The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Wednesday, called for bold participation from Nigeria’s capital market to unlock the country’s estimated $700 billion worth of solid mineral resources.

It is worth noting that the ongoing reforms are aimed at de-risking investments and positioning the sector to compete globally.

Alake was represented by his Senior Adviser on Mining and Policy, Mrs. Amira Adamu Waziri, at a webinar jointly organised by NASD Plc and the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF). He said Nigeria stands at the threshold of a mining renaissance, fueled by political will and policy reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The webinar, themed “Unlocking Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Potentials Through the Capital Market,” brought together key stakeholders from the mining, finance, and regulatory sectors.

The minister emphasised that strategic investment is crucial to driving a mining-led transformation of the Nigerian economy.

He said, “It can mobilise long-term financing for exploration, support junior mining companies, and channel institutional capital into infrastructure and processing hubs.

“Nigeria is blessed with an extraordinary endowment of solid mineral resources, over 44 commercially viable minerals, ranging from gold and lithium to tin, lead-zinc, barite, and rare earth elements. These resources are spread across the country’s six geopolitical zones, positioning mining as a truly national sector.

“Yet, despite this wealth, the sector currently contributes less than one per cent to national GDP. The reasons are well known: insufficient geological data, weak infrastructure, informal operations, illegal mining, and a significant financing gap.”

Alake outlined his seven-point reform agenda focused on creating a national mining corporation, deploying a special Mines Marshals force, accelerating geological data acquisition, formalising artisanal mining, boosting local processing, attracting large-scale investments, and deepening stakeholder engagement.

“What we now require is capital, technology, and strategic partnerships to unleash this potential,” he declared, urging public and private stakeholders to align resources, innovation, and governance to transform Nigeria’s mining landscape.

In her remarks, SMDF’s Executive Secretary, Hajia Fatimah Shinkafi, represented by Mr. Abdulmajeed Amussah, announced the rollout of three specialised funding vehicles to address Nigeria’s mining sector financing challenges:

She said, “Growth Fund: Stimulates early-stage exploration and provides project development support; Opportunities Fund: Accelerates mature mining projects and infrastructure readiness; and Research Fund: Backs enabling policies, geological data, and ecosystem innovation.

“Most mining projects in Nigeria are stuck at stages 1 and 2, exploration and feasibility, which makes them unattractive to commercial lenders. Our goal is to move them along the development curve.”

Data presented at the event revealed stark imbalances in sectoral credit allocation where agriculture and transportation dominate bank financing, while mining receives negligible support. With ₦10 billion already earmarked for development, SMDF’s strategy seeks to unlock catalytic funding and attract institutional investors.

In his remarks, the NASD Plc Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Eguarekhide Longe, unveiled the National Digital Securities Platform (N-DSP), a blockchain-based infrastructure to support tokenised mining securities.

Longe said, “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 noted that the initiative aligns with the federal government’s push for value addition, industrialisation, and transition from ore exports to in-country beneficiation.

Also speaking, the Executive Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Bola Ajomole, emphasised the urgency of capital market involvement in the mining sector.

He revealed that over 867 mining licenses have been issued in 2025, generating N7 billion, with SEC working on mining bonds and royalty-backed securities under a revised Investment Securities Act.