Nigeria fund offers grants covering up to 70% of exploration costs

Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Development Fund, a government agency, will issue grants covering up to 70% of eligible exploration project costs for mining licence holders, Semafor reported on August 21. Fund chief executive Fatima Umaru Shinkafi said the programme is focused mainly on junior mining companies. The initiative forms part of the government’s effort to identify untapped deposits of more than 44 minerals across 500 locations and fund research into processing technologies. The fund was appraising applications after receiving hundreds, Shinkafi said. The report also says the government may take stakes in ventures it supports, with a structure allowing a later exit; it does not describe that option as a settled universal condition for all grants. Shinkafi said applications had opened in June. The grants build on the fund’s partnership with Africa Finance Corporation to reduce project risk and attract private capital. She also described a proposed alumina refinery, saying it had not been built and that a final investment decision was targeted for the following year. The fund’s exploration priorities include lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths, minerals used in batteries and digital infrastructure. The report places the programme against Nigeria’s limited mining contribution to the economy: solid minerals account for barely 1%, despite the administration’s stated 3% target. Shinkafi also pointed to tax holidays and full repatriation of earnings as features intended to attract investors. She distinguished the wider investment regime, which does not insist on state part-ownership, from the possible equity participation attached to fund-supported ventures. Nexus analysis: Exploration support and processing research address different parts of the mineral value chain. Applications under appraisal are a pipeline of potential projects, not a count of approved grants or commercial discoveries.