The executive secretary and chief executive officer of the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), Hajiya Fatima Umaru Shinkafi, has highlighted significant progress in the federal government’s reforms of the solid minerals sector, while calling for stronger collaboration among government, industry and academia to unlock Nigeria’s vast mineral wealth.
According to a statement by SMDF spokesperson Idowu Jokpeyibo on Thursday, Shinkafi made the call while delivering the keynote address at the maiden Annual Lecture Series of the Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), where she outlined the achievements of the federal government’s roadmap to increase the mining sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to three per cent by 2030.
Speaking on the theme: “Building Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Future: The Power of Academia, Government and Industry in Partnership,” she said the target was being pursued through the Seven-Point Agenda of the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Henry Dele Alake, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The SMDF boss said Nigeria possesses more than 44 commercially viable minerals across over 500 locations, including gold, lithium, iron ore, coal, bitumen, barite and gemstones, but lamented that the sector still contributes less than one per cent to the country’s GDP.
According to her, solid mineral exports stood at about ₦354 billion in 2025, accounting for only 0.4 per cent of Nigeria’s total exports and about three per cent of non-oil exports.
She said the reforms had begun yielding measurable results, with federation revenue from the sector increasing from about ₦16 billion in 2023 to ₦38 billion in 2024 before surpassing ₦70 billion in 2025.
“The clearest proof sits in federation revenues. 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 per cent in two years,” she said.
Shinkafi added that the sector recorded 33.5 per cent real growth in 2025—about nine times the overall economic growth rate of 3.9 per cent—and had attracted approximately $2.6 billion in fresh investment commitments since 2023, including a $1.3 billion alumina refinery project described as the largest mining investment in Nigeria’s history.
She also highlighted the SMDF’s Early-Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment (EMERGE), launched in June 2026, describing it as Nigeria’s first dedicated competitive funding programme for geoscience research in universities.
According to her, EMERGE comprises three funding streams—Exploration, Critical Minerals, and Research and Development—with grants covering up to 100 per cent of eligible costs for research, including fieldwork, laboratory testing and publication fees.
“EMERGE is the first time in Nigeria’s history that a national institution has created dedicated, competitive funding for geoscience research in our universities,” she said, urging researchers to take advantage of the initiative.
She noted that beneficiaries would also participate in the EMERGE Accelerator, which provides technical training, investment-readiness support and access to follow-on funding.
Encouraging greater female participation in the mining industry, Shinkafi drew inspiration from pioneering scientist Marie Curie, telling young women at the event that, “The minerals under our feet do not care who unlocks them.”
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, described the lecture as a demonstration of the role of partnerships between research institutions and public agencies in national development.
“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,” she said.
On his part , the pioneer Dean of the Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences, Professor Olayinka Taiwo Asekun, said the lecture series was established to strengthen collaboration between academia and industry.
She described the EMERGE initiative as a unique opportunity for researchers to translate academic work into practical mining solutions and pledged that the faculty would ensure strong participation in subsequent application windows.
