.contributes ₦108bn in 2 years to federation account
.as sector grew by 33.5% in 2025
By Gabriel Ewepu
ABUJA – THE Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Solid Minerals Development, SMDF, Hajiya Fatima Shinkafi, has disclosed that Nigeria’s solid minerals exports hit ₦354 billion in 2025.
Shinkafi made this known in her keynote address titled ‘Building Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Future: The Power of Academia, Government and Industry in Partnership’, delivered at the University of Lagos’ maiden Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences Annual Lecture Series.
She said all these were achieved under the Federal Government’s roadmap to triple Nigeria’s solid minerals sector to three per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, by 2030, a target set by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, under his Seven-Point Agenda for the sector.
She emphasized the scale of Nigeria’s mining opportunity, and its historical underperformance, despite the presence of more than 44 minerals in commercial quantities across over 500 locations, spanning gold, iron ore, lithium, coal, bitumen, barite and gemstones.
Meanwhile, she was welcomed by the chief host, Prof Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos and the first woman to lead the institution in its six decade history, and introduced by the host, Prof Olayinka Taiwo Asekun, pioneer Dean of the newly created Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences. All three – the keynote speaker, the Chief Host and the Host – are women; with Asekun and Shinkafi being trained chemists.
She said: “Solid minerals contribute less than one percent of Nigeria’s GDP. The trade statistics tell the same story: in 2025, solid mineral exports of about ₦354 billion amounted to roughly 0.4 per cent of our total exports, and about three per cent of our non-oil exports, against the nearly five per cent of exports the sector commanded at independence.”
According to her, this necessitated the launch of the Seven-Point Agenda by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, in September 2023, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The ministerial agenda covers: establishing the Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation; attracting private capital; building geoscience data through the Nigeria Minerals Decision Support System; formalising artisanal miners; securing mine sites through the Mining Marshals, who have apprehended over 300 illegal miners and recovered close to 100 illicit sites; restoring order by revoking more than 2,500 dormant mining titles; and driving local value addition.
Highlighting the concrete outcomes of the reforms, she said, “The clearest proof sits in federation revenues. In 2023, this sector earned the Federation about ₦16 billion. In 2024, the figure rose to ₦38 billion. In 2025, it crossed ₦70 billion. That is growth of more than 337 percent in two years, from the same minerals and the same ground, governed differently.
“The national accounts tell the same story, in real terms, with the price effect stripped out. The sector grew 33.5 percent in real terms in 2025, roughly nine times the overall economy’s 3.9 percent real growth.”
Speaking further she stated that, “Since 2023, reforms have attracted about US$2.6 billion in fresh investment commitments, including a US$1.3 billion, 1.5-million-tonne alumina refinery, the largest mining investment in Nigerian history. The federal government’s target is a 25-fold expansion of the sector, to roughly ₦30 trillion (about US$21 billion) by 2030.
“The centre-piece of the address was EMERGE, the Early-Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment, which the SMDF launched in June 2026. Described by Shinkafi as the first dedicated, competitive funding vehicle for geoscience research in Nigerian universities, EMERGE runs three streams: Exploration, Critical Minerals, and Research and Development.
“The Exploration and Critical Minerals streams cover up to 70 percent of eligible costs; the Research and Development stream, open directly to Master’s and PhD researchers as well as university departments and research institutions, covers 100 percent of eligible costs, including fieldwork, laboratory testing and publication fees. Every awardee also joins the EMERGE Accelerator, which provides technical training, investment readiness support and access to follow-on capital.
“EMERGE is the first time in Nigeria’s history that a national institution has created dedicated, competitive funding for geoscience research in our universities.”
Meanwhile, she urged the Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences of UniLag to designate a coordinator and submit proposals to every application window.
Reflecting on the day’s all-women leadership, the SMDF boss drew a parallel to Marie Curie and encouraged young women in the audience to pursue careers in the sector. “The minerals under our feet do not care who unlocks them”, she said.
The Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos and Chief Host of the lecture, Prof Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS, in her remarks said, “The University of Lagos is proud to convene the maiden edition of this lecture series and to place our Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences at the service of a national priority.
“A partnership between a research university and a sovereign fund is how knowledge becomes national wealth. We thank the Executive Secretary for an address that honoured this institution and challenged our researchers to lead.”
Also speaking, the pioneer Dean, Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences and Host, Prof Olayinka Asekun, said, “This lecture series was created to face our Faculty toward the nation’s industries and to demand engagement, and this maiden edition is the proof.
“The Executive Secretary has offered our staff and students a funded pathway from a Master’s thesis to a working mine. We accept the charge, and will ensure that no application window closes without a University of Lagos submission in it.”
