By Martha Agas
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, says the capital market is a critical pillar in Nigeria’s drive toward a sustainable mining sector.
Alake made the remark at a webinar on unlocking Nigeria’s solid minerals potential through the capital market on Wednesday.
The event was organised by the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Over-the-Counter (NASD OTC) Securities Exchange.
Represented by his Senior Adviser on Mining and Policy, Mrs Amira Waziri, the minister said that improved funding was needed to reposition the solid minerals sector and increase its contribution to the country’s GDP.
“Through the capital market, we can mobilise long-term financing for exploration and project development, support junior mining companies to list, raise funds and scale operations;
“We can also facilitate securitisation and monetisation of geological assets and channel institutional capital into infrastructure and processing hubs,“ he said.
Alake expressed confidence that the webinar marked the beginning of a broader national conversation on using structured capital to unlock mineral wealth.
He said that the ministry would work with the SMDF and other stakeholders to develop custom-made instruments, listings and frameworks to translate this vision into reality.
According to him, the ministry remains committed to inclusive and strategic stakeholder engagement and are open to ideas, partnerships and joint efforts that advance the collective good of the mining industry.
“This includes continuous dialogue with host communities to ensure local participation and benefits, as well as stronger collaboration with financial institutions, ” he said.
Alake said that other areas included working with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and capital market operators, and aligning with environmental and social best practices to ensure sustainability.
The Executive Secretary (ES) of the SMDF, Hajiya Fatima Shinkafi, said that realising the potential of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector would require innovative financing approaches aligned with government priorities and private sector needs.
Represented by her Technical Adviser, Abdulmajeed Amussah, Shinkafi said that the SMDF had deployed three funding vehicles.
She listed the vehicles as the Growth Fund, Opportunities Fund and Research Fund, to unlock the untapped potential in the solid minerals sector.
She said that the Growth Fund supported early-stage exploration and project development, while the Opportunities Fund focused on advancing mature mining projects and strengthening infrastructure readiness.
“The Research Fund supports enabling policies, geological data, and ecosystem innovation.
“Many projects in Nigeria remain stuck at the first and second stages of exploration and feasibility studies, which reduces their attractiveness to potential financiers.
“Despite over N10 billion being available for mining development, credit distribution remains skewed, with agriculture and transportation getting the bulk of bank financing, and mining barely making a dent,“ she said.
The Chief Executive Officer of NASD OTC, Mr Eguarekhide Longe, said that unveiling a bold capital market to unlock Nigeria’s solid minerals wealth involved leveraging the capital market to mobilise strategic investment into the sector.
Longe said that this could be achieved through the National Digital Securities Platform (N-DSP), a blockchain-based platform for listing, trading, clearing and settlement of tokenised securities.
“Through tokenised instruments like debt, equity, and mineral-backed securities, we can channel investment into exploration, production, and processing, while making capital market participation more accessible and transparent, “ he said.
He said that the initiative aligned with the Federal Government’s drive for value addition, industrialisation and a shift from exporting raw ore to in-country beneficiation.
