Nigeria-US Mining Deal: Critical Minerals

Nigeria and the United States have been working on a new mining agreement that can help boost collaboration within Nigeria’s critical-minerals industry. The two nations have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

This move is based on previous talks that took place between Dele Alake – Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development – and Keith Heffern – Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Abuja.

What the MoU for Nigeria-US Mineral Cooperation Could Contain

In essence, the MoU is likely to facilitate cooperation throughout the mineral value chain, ranging from discovery and mining to processing and adding value. This would mean going further than just discovering mineral deposits to setting up the necessary infrastructure to process them.

The MoU will also ensure the creation of more resilient mineral supply chains. The minerals have now become very critical to governments as they are used in batteries, electronics, renewable energy, and manufacturing, among others.

The US has been seeking partnerships in countries endowed with natural resources in an effort to diversify mineral supplies from such countries. It has been doing so at a time when its minerals depend a great deal on China, which dominates some of these processes. As Reuters reported this week, Washington is investing more both domestically and internationally as it seeks to minimize any vulnerabilities from its dominance in the mineral-processing markets.

Why Nigeria Is Important to Washington

There is an extensive but underdeveloped solid mineral industry in Nigeria. Its government has identified minerals like lithium, gold, iron ore, lead-zinc, and others as having the potential to grow the industry.

Cooperation with Nigeria may allow Washington to explore yet another possible source of mineral supplies while simultaneously developing its commercial relationship with the most populous African country.

Moreover, the suggested cooperation fits into the ongoing plans of the United States to diversify critical minerals supply chains. This was highlighted by the State Department’s 2026 Critical Minerals Ministerial that gathered partners for developing new supply chains that would be more robust and reliable.

Why Abuja Wants Processing and Investment

As noted above, Nigeria is not just interested in attracting companies to mine its resources. The representatives of the Nigerian government stated several times that it wants companies to engage in the processing and refining of minerals, in transferring technologies and other activities to add value.

This can also be seen in the way Nigeria cooperates with foreign investors. In June, there was an agreement on the development of lithium and rare earth minerals in Nigeria that was based not on the export of unprocessed resources but on technical assistance and sustainable development.

It is a part of the diversification policy of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

More Critical Minerals Moves Between US and Africa

Nigeria’s proposed deal is one component of an expanding American drive to cooperate with African countries in mineral processing.

For example, in Kenya, the US government has just expressed its readiness to help establish a local critical-minerals processing industry from the Mrima Hill deposits, which contain rare earths and niobium minerals.

It is clear that the moves by Kenya and Nigeria show how significant Africa has become in the contest to diversify sources of critical minerals.

However, in the case of Nigeria, the next issue will be implementation. The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is just a starting point, and converting mining opportunities into actual mining activities will demand money, geology, infrastructure, processing, etc.