By Omoyeni Ojeifo
The Federal Government has reaffirmed that investors in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector must establish in-country processing facilities.
By shifting away from raw mineral exports, the government aims to retain greater economic value within the country and ensure mining communities directly benefit from local resource extraction.
Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said this at the 2026 Berlin Global Dialogue in Germany, where he outlined Nigeria’s approach to foreign investment, strategic autonomy and infrastructure development.
According to him, the government’s approach included strict oversight of environmental protection and measures to safeguard communities where mineral resources are found.
“We learned from our experience in the Niger Delta. We are now doing things differently to give rights to local communities where minerals are found,” he said, in a statement emailed to PerSecondNews on Friday by his Special Assistant on Digital Media and Public Diplomacy, Raphael Oni.
Tracing the relationship between business and diplomacy from the Royal Niger Company to post-independence multinational corporations, the minister argued that African countries must strengthen domestic resource mobilisation to finance their development priorities.
“Africa has come to this conversation with great assets, substantial opportunities and a determination to shape its own development based on partnership with the rest of the world,” he said.
“Foreign capital can only complement but cannot replace the kind of resources that we need,” he stressed, citing the Dangote public offer, which he maintained attracted subscriptions from more than 52 countries.
He noted that Nigeria’s strategic autonomy allowed it to pursue national interests regardless of the ideological positions of competing international blocs, including protecting the interests of Nigerian companies abroad.
Enikanolaiye also cited Nigeria’s stabilising role through the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group in Liberia and Sierra Leone, arguing that regional security had helped Nigerian businesses expand across West Africa.
Tilting towards infrastructure, the minister identified reliable electricity, efficient intermodal transport and digital connectivity as essential to expanding production and creating opportunities for Africa’s growing population.
He highlighted electricity metering as an investment opportunity and said attracting long-term capital required well-prepared projects, predictable regulations, transparent procurement and credible risk-sharing arrangements.
Enikanolaiye further identified the African Export-Import Bank, African Development Bank, ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development and the African Credit Rating Agency in Mauritius as institutions that could support infrastructure financing through guarantees and blended finance.
He also called for reform of the international credit rating system, while linking Africa’s ambitions in artificial intelligence to the availability of stable electricity.
On regional economic integration, the minister cited Africa’s average growth of 4.3 per cent and the ambition to raise it to seven per cent, alongside the African Continental Free Trade Area, progress towards the ECO currency and Nigeria’s single-window system.
He also highlighted the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, identified in the statement as launched in January 2026, as a mechanism for facilitating cross-border payments and increasing intra-African trade, which the statement put at 16 per cent.
“We need to trade more among ourselves to develop competitive advantages,” he said.
The minister further identified technical education, skills development and diaspora remittances as important to infrastructure financing, particularly amid declining official development assistance. He also cited ongoing reforms to improve Nigeria’s business environment.
Enikanolaiye reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to fiscal discipline, transparency, democracy and the rule of law, urging the mobilisation of long-term capital for Africa’s development.
The minister, alongside Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany, Sen. Ita Enang, met Lesotho’s Foreign Minister, Limpho Justice Tau, on the sidelines of the dialogue, to discuss bilateral cooperation, including the possibility of establishing a physical diplomatic presence for Lesotho in Abuja.
Tau commended Nigeria’s historical role in African liberation and invited Nigerian industrial leaders, including the Dangote Group, to explore investment opportunities in Lesotho.
The meeting is expected to advance cooperation through the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD).
The Nigerian delegation was led by Enikanolaiye and the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, who participated in activities held at Nigeria House in Berlin on behalf of the President.
Persecondnews recalls that in June 2026, President Bola Tinubu had charged African countries to end raw mineral exports and prioritise local processing to retain more economic value from their natural resources.
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