September 28, (THEWILL) – Some experts and stakeholders have continued to interrogate the agreement between the U.S. and Nigeria on solid minerals development. While some say it will help reposition the sector and increase its contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, others demand proper scrutiny of the details of the framework, especially as it affects the host communities and the long-term national interests of Nigeria.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, recently signed a key framework agreement to spur American investment in Nigeria’s estimated 700 billion dollars mineral sector. The agreement, signed on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly (UNGA81), is also aimed at strengthening economic cooperation between both countries.
It is expected to use the relationship between the Nigerian and U.S. Governments as a foundation to boost Nigeria’s value-addition-driven value chain. Some of the experts told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja that the move would stimulate economic growth and reinforce the solid minerals sector as a viable alternative to oil.
An economic expert, Dr Abdussalam Kani, said the agreement would assist in reducing poverty in areas or states where mineral resources are available in Nigeria by providing either direct or in-direct employment.
Kani, the Principal Consultant of NexGen Consult Solutions Ltd., said if the projected employment was achieved, it would help improve security, especially in the northern region, as well as boost Nigeria’s sources of revenue.
He, however, cautioned the government to be transparent and accountable in implementing the agreement’s provisions and make the content public.
“There is a need to carefully assess the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure compliance and to ensure conformity with existing laws in Nigeria,” he said.
He emphasised the need to ensure that communities likely to be affected by the exploration of mineral resources, particularly in northern Nigeria, were incorporated into a component of the agreement.
“There should be a particular component detailing the corporate social responsibility, detailing the communities that are going to be affected and the measures to be taken in the form of compensation,” he said.
An investment expert, Mr Fife Banks, described the deal as potentially significant, saying its importance should not be measured by the signing itself but by what Nigeria ultimately achieved through the framework.
Banks, the Chief Executive Officer, Brave Investment Global (BIG), urged Nigeria to leverage growing global demand for critical minerals to secure greater domestic value from the partnership. He said the framework could open opportunities for private capital, but should ultimately deliver processing, technology transfer, jobs and Nigerian enterprise participation.
According to him, Nigeria’s objective should be broader, including attracting capital, while retaining substantially more economic value through domestic processing and beneficiation, technology transfer, skills development and quality employment. Dr Abdullahi Jabi, Chairman of the North Central Zone of the Campaign for Democracy, Human Rights Advocacy Civil Society of Nigeria, said the deal would bring fortune and shared prosperity to Nigerians.
Jabi said the deal would facilitate increased trade in Nigeria and promote the development and marketing of products derived from the raw materials available in various states of the federation, particularly in Northern Nigeria. He expressed confidence that the development would create jobs across the formal and informal sectors, facilitate skills transfer and promote the adoption of modern technology and equipment.
“It is going to be win-win situation for the Federal Government because the oil market now is diminishing.
“They should be looking for alternative sources of revenue which will have potential like the mining sector,” he said.
He said the development would give investors assurance about the security of their investments, promote compliance with ethical practices in the sector and create job opportunities.
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Bala Wunti, Chief Executive Officer of World Energy Council Nigeria, said Nigeria needed reliable geological data, credible buyers and other conditions to attract private capital to its critical minerals sector.
Wunti made the remarks at the 2026 Concordia Annual Summit in New York during a panel titled, “Rare Currency: Critical Minerals in a Shifting Global Economy.” He said Africa must move beyond serving as a source of raw materials and position itself as a competitive processing and manufacturing partner in the emerging global critical minerals economy.
However, a former Senator who represented Kaduna Central in the ninth National Assembly, Shehu Sani, urged the government to be very careful when it comes to the execution of the contents of the framework. For him, the areas covered in the framework, namely mineral exploration, development, process, infrastructure and technical capacity, are too wide to grant monopoly to the US over the mineral sector.
Writing in a post on his X handle at the weekend, Sani wondered why the details of the agreement were not made public to allow lawmakers to examine its implications for Nigeria’s national interest and communities hosting mineral resources. He cautioned that signing such a deal with a superpower like the US must be taken seriously because it would have an impact on unborn generations.
He warned,“W hen you sign a deal with a Superpower, you can’t easily ‘unsign.’ This is a deal even unborn generations are chained to.”
Furthermore, he said, “The reported signing of a $700 billion mineral exploration deal between Nigeria and the US on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly is a commendable achievement. But the details of the deal should have been made public for at least parliamentary scrutiny: that would ensure our national interests and the interests of the host communities are well protected.”
Sani argued that the communities hosting deposits of lithium, gold, rare earth minerals and uranium are affected by banditry, making security a vital consideration in the agreement. He said,” A mineral is not just an economic issue that must be treated seriously. The deal should not just be a swap to replace the Chinese miners or appease anyone. Taking cognisance of the fact that most of the communities that most of these precious minerals, such as lithium,gold, rare earth and uranium, are infested by bandits, security issues must be factored.”
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