SMDF Boss Highlights Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Future In Maiden UNILAG Lecture

• …. Seeks stronger govt, industry and academia partnership

The Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) on Wednesday, outlined progress on the Federal Government’s roadmap to triple Nigeria’s solid minerals sector to 3 percent of GDP by 2030 – a target set by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Henry Dele Alake, under his Seven-Point Agenda – in a keynote address delivered by the SMDF Executive Secretary and CEO, Hajiya Fatima Umaru Shinkafi, at the University of Lagos’ maiden Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences Annual Lecture Series.

Hajiya Fatima Shinkafi delivered the Keynote Address titled, “Building Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Future: The Power of Academia, Government, and Industry in Partnership,” at the J.F. Ade Ajayi Main Auditorium of the University of Lagos.

She was welcomed by the Vice Chancellor of UNILAG who is also Chief Host, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS, the first woman to lead the institution in its six decade history, and was introduced by the host, Professor Olayinka Taiwo Asekun, pioneer Dean of the newly created Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences. All three – the Keynote Speaker, the Chief Host and the Host are women.

Emphasising the scale of Nigeria’s mining opportunity, Shinkafi said Nigeria is blessed with presence of more than 44 minerals in commercial quantities across over 500 locations, spanning gold, iron ore, lithium, coal, bitumen, barite and gemstones. She however expressed concern that “solid minerals contribute less than one percent of Nigeria’s GDP.”

While saying that trade statistics tell the same story, she pointed out that “in 2025, solid mineral exports of about ₦354 billion amounted to roughly 0.4 percent of the Nigeria’s total exports and about 3 percent of non-oil exports, against the nearly five percent of exports the sector commanded at independence.”

This, she said, necessitated the launch of the Seven-Point Agenda by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Henry Dele Alake, in September 2023, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. She explained that the ministerial agenda covers establishing the Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation, attracting private capital; building geoscience data through the Nigeria Minerals Decision Support System; formalising artisanal miners; securing mine sites through the Mining Marshals, who have apprehended over 300 illegal miners and recovered close to 100 illicit sites; restoring order by revoking more than 2,500 dormant mining titles; and driving local value addition.

Outlining the concrete outcomes of the reforms, Shinkafi said “the clearest proof sits in federation revenues.”

She stated: “In 2023, this sector earned the Federation about ₦16 billion. In 2024, the figure rose to ₦38 billion. In 2025, it crossed ₦70 billion.”

“That is growth of more than 337 percent in two years, from the same minerals and the same ground, governed differently.”

“The national accounts tell the same story, in real terms, with the price effect stripped out. The sector grew 33.5 percent in real terms in 2025, roughly nine times the overall economy’s 3.9 percent real growth.”

She said since 2023, reforms have attracted about US$2.6 billion in fresh investment commitments, including a US$1.3 billion, 1.5-million-tonne alumina refinery, the largest mining investment in Nigerian history.

According to the Executive Secretary, “the federal government’s target is a 25-fold expansion of the sector, to roughly ₦30 trillion (about US$21 billion) by 2030.”

The centrepiece of Skinkafi’s keynote address was the Early-Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment (EMERGE), which she said the SMDF launched in June 2026.

Shinkafi described EMERGE as the first dedicated, competitive funding vehicle for geoscience research in Nigerian universities, adding that it runs three streams, namely, Exploration, Critical Minerals, and Research and Development.

“The Exploration and Critical Minerals streams cover up to 70 percent of eligible costs; the Research and Development stream, open directly to Master’s and PhD researchers as well as university departments and research institutions, covers 100 percent of eligible costs, including fieldwork, laboratory testing and publication fees.”

Every awardee also joins the EMERGE Accelerator, which provides technical training, investment readiness support and access to follow-on capital.

She said “EMERGE is the first time in Nigeria’s history that a national institution created a dedicated, competitive funding for geoscience research in our universities,” and urged the Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences to designate a coordinator and submit proposals to every application window.

Reflecting on the day’s all-women leadership, Shinkafi drew a parallel to Marie Curie and encouraged young women in the audience to pursue careers in the sector, stating that “the minerals under our feet do not care who unlocks them.”

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos and Chief Host of the lecture, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, said: “The University of Lagos is proud to convene the maiden edition of this lecture series and to place our Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences at the service of a national priority. A partnership between a research university and a sovereign fund is how knowledge becomes national wealth.”

The Vice Chancellor thanked the Executive Secretary for delivering an address that honoured the institution and challenged its researchers to lead.

The pioneer Dean of the Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences and Host, Professor Olayinka Taiwo Asekun, said: “This lecture series was created to face our Faculty toward the nation’s industries and to demand engagement, and this maiden edition is the proof.

She Dean further commended the Executive Secretary for offering staff and students of the Factulty a funded pathway from a Master’s thesis to a working mine. “We accept the charge, and will ensure that no application window closes without a University of Lagos submission in it,” she assured.