Nigeria and the United States have signed a framework agreement aimed at attracting American investment into Nigeria’s mining sector and developing the country’s estimated $700 billion mineral resources.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau signed and exchanged the agreement Wednesday at Nigeria’s Mission House in New York, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
The framework is designed to deepen government-to-government cooperation and encourage business-to-business partnerships across Nigeria’s mining value chain, with emphasis on geological data and exploration, mineral development and processing, infrastructure and technical capacity.
Alake said the agreement marked a shift toward using Nigeria’s mineral wealth to generate greater domestic value, jobs and industrial growth.
“Some agreements manage the present, and some agreements shape the future. The framework we sign today belongs to the second kind,” Alake said.
He added that Nigeria did not want to remain a supplier of raw materials while other countries captured most of the value.
“Our goal is to turn potential into lasting value at home through stronger local processing, new skills, quality jobs, and new opportunities for Nigerian businesses,” he said.
Alake said implementation of the framework would support the economic diversification objectives of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda while strengthening Nigeria’s mineral value chain.
“Now comes the harder and more important work: moving from agreement to implementation. A signature is a promise, results are the proof,” he said.
Landau said the United States viewed Nigeria as an important regional partner and expressed Washington’s willingness to support the country’s economic growth.
“The signal we are sending is that the United States and Nigeria are partners,” Landau said, adding that both countries had made progress in their relationship under Presidents Donald Trump and Bola Tinubu.
The agreement is expected to provide a basis for identifying viable mining projects, mobilizing investment and developing commercial partnerships between Nigerian and U.S. businesses.
Lagos State Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and senior officials from Nigeria’s solid minerals institutions attended the signing ceremony, alongside members of the U.S. delegation.
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