Alake denies $700bn minerals sale, inaugurates Nigeria-US committee

By Gabriel Ewepu ABUJA — Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has dismissed reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the United States, insisting that no national asset has been sold or transferred under the bilateral cooperation framework. Alake spoke on Tuesday in Abuja while inaugurating the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector, describing the reports as false and clarifying that the agreement was designed to attract investment and promote partnerships between American investors and Nigerian operators.

“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” he said. The minister explained that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Nigeria and the US was a government-to-government platform intended to facilitate business-to-business engagements, rather than transfer ownership of Nigeria’s mineral resources to foreign interests.

“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers,” he said. The committee’s inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between both countries during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Alake also dismissed claims that the United States intended to take over Nigeria’s mineral resources and security architecture, describing the reports as misleading. He said the partnership aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, which seeks to reduce the country’s dependence on crude oil through the sustainable development of its mineral resources.

According to him, Nigeria is seeking to change the pattern of international economic transactions in which resource-rich African countries export raw materials without retaining sufficient value from their exploitation. “We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation.

The investor gains, Nigeria gains,” he said. The minister lamented that Nigeria had historically operated a mono-product economy, while much of its solid minerals sector remained informal, with ores transported “from pit to port” without adequate local processing. He said the Federal Government had introduced a policy making local processing a condition for the granting of mineral titles, adding that investors must demonstrate a clear pathway for processing minerals within the country.

According to Alake, the policy has encouraged the establishment of processing facilities across the country, including what he described as West Africa’s largest lithium processing plant, recently commissioned in Nasarawa State by the Vice President. He said the government’s reform efforts also informed the establishment of the African Minerals Strategy Group, which aims to strengthen cooperation among African countries on mineral development.

Alake attributed renewed investor confidence to the macroeconomic reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration, which he said provided assurances on security of tenure and the repatriation of profits. Charging members of the newly inaugurated committee to discharge their responsibilities diligently, the minister described their assignment as critical to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.

He urged the committee to coordinate activities, identify viable investment opportunities and translate the Nigeria-US cooperation framework into measurable outcomes that would strengthen the country’s position in the global solid minerals industry. In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Engr Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration would translate growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilisation.

Also speaking, Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said US President Donald Trump had prioritised three areas for American embassies: energy, artificial intelligence and superintelligence, as well as critical minerals. Baas said Washington was seeking partnerships that would secure critical mineral supply chains while ensuring that partner countries benefited from the value generated.

“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said. In his vote of thanks, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Nigeria Solid Minerals Company (NSMC) said the committee would coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria-US cooperation framework.