In a world scrambling for minerals to fuel the green transition, Nigeria and South Africa have decided it’s time to stop just talking about rocks and start making them pay. In a strategic partnership unveiled this April, the two African giants signed a wide-ranging mining agreement that may finally drag Nigeria’s long-neglected mineral sector into the 21st century—and maybe into profit.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed by Nigeria’s Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, marks a significant shift for a Nigerian economy long reliant on oil and gas. With South Africa bringing technical expertise and Nigeria offering vast untapped deposits, the deal is as much about geology as it is about geopolitics and growth.
What’s on the table? A lot more than just pickaxes and hope. The agreement focuses on five key areas: geological mapping using drone technology, sharing of mineral data, joint exploration of agro and energy minerals, capacity building for Nigerian experts, and the transfer of modern processing technologies—think laser-based elemental analysis, not old-school sieves and pans. In short, South Africa supplies the brains and Nigeria provides the brawn, or at least the bauxite.
Nigeria is believed to sit on approximately 23 commercially viable minerals, including lithium, gold, iron ore, zinc, and limestone. Yet the country’s mining sector currently contributes less than 1% to GDP. Compare that to South Africa, where mining makes up around 7% of the economy and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs. The deal is designed to close that gap—or at least shrink it—by positioning Nigeria as the next frontier for African mining investment.
At the heart of the deal is a mutual recognition of missed opportunities. While South Africa’s deep mining legacy has brought it both riches and regulatory headaches, Nigeria’s story has been one of potential largely ignored. Past efforts to reform the sector were either half-baked or hamstrung by insecurity, poor infrastructure, and a tendency for mineral sites to end up in the hands of well-connected but technically clueless operators.
Recommended Stories
This new partnership is intended to change that. Training programs are a major pillar of the agreement, including knowledge exchanges and joint research in mineral value addition—so Nigeria isn’t just exporting raw ore, but something closer to a finished product. That’s key in a world where nations that process their own minerals reap more benefits than those who simply dig and ship.
The announcement came during a meeting of the Nigeria–South Africa Bi-National Commission, an effort to inject new life into bilateral ties. And it doesn’t hurt that the world is hungry for the very minerals Nigeria has in its backyard. Lithium, in particular, has become a kind of 21st-century gold, powering everything from smartphones to electric vehicles. As global demand soars, Nigeria’s lithium-rich zones in states like Nasarawa and Kogi have started to attract attention—and not just from African partners.
Still, it won’t all be smooth digging. Security remains a major issue in many mining regions, with banditry and insurgency posing real risks to investment. Bureaucracy is another headache, with multiple agencies sometimes tripping over each other while trying to regulate the same mining sites. And then there’s corruption, the silent partner in too many Nigerian deals, always lurking around the corner with a clipboard and an empty briefcase.
But there’s also real optimism. South Africa’s mining giants know how to navigate complex terrains—both geological and political. If they can help Nigeria build up its technical know-how and regulatory muscle, the long-term payoff could be enormous. For a country still looking to wean itself off oil dependency, rocks might just be the new black gold.
Whether this MoU turns into a full-blown success story or another footnote in Nigeria’s economic scrapbook remains to be seen. But for now, the drill bits are sharpened, the data is shared, and two of Africa’s biggest economies are ready to dig in—together.
