China has shown a willingness to expand its partnership with Nigeria in the solid minerals industry by establishing electric vehicle plants, as part of broader measures to boost bilateral ties and support African industrialization.
This was disclosed during a courtesy visit by the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Yu Dunhai, to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, at the Ministry’s headquarters over the weekend.
Ambassador Dunhai emphasized the strategic importance of Nigeria to China’s foreign policy and commended the country’s vast natural resource endowment.
He recalled the recent state visit of President Bola Tinubu to China, where both Tinubu and President Xi Jinping agreed to elevate the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, opening new frontiers for cooperation.
“Nigeria is a great country blessed with tremendous natural resources. Chinese companies are already deeply involved in Nigeria’s mining sector, from exploration to processing. We aim to deepen this collaboration, especially in line with President Tinubu’s eight priority areas, notably economic diversification through solid minerals,” Dunhai said.
He assured the Minister that China takes illegal mining seriously and that the Chinese government and embassy continuously remind Chinese companies in Nigeria to operate within the legal framework, uphold environmental standards, and carry out Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
“The Chinese authorities have zero tolerance for illegal mining. We are ready to work with the Nigerian government to bring suspected culprits to justice,” he stressed.
Responding, Alake acknowledged the positive role of many Chinese firms in Nigeria’s mining landscape but raised concerns over a few errant operators.
“We’ve taken action against illegal operators, including some Chinese nationals. While isolated, such incidents undermine the good work of many compliant Chinese firms. We need your cooperation in ensuring that such culprits are brought to justice,” Alake stated.
He noted that the establishment of the Mining Marshals to combat illegal mining is yielding results, creating a deterrent effect and increasing compliance across the industry.
“The outfit has sent the right signal in the sector, raised awareness about the menace, and has consequently improved compliance to regulations by both local and foreign operators,” he added.
Alake emphasized Nigeria’s new policy direction which discourages the export of raw minerals, focusing instead on local value addition.
“For years, our minerals have been exported raw to fuel foreign industrialization. That must change. We now prioritize local processing to drive Nigeria’s development. For instance, with the abundance of lithium, we want to see local manufacturing of electric vehicles and batteries,” he said.
He urged the Chinese Ambassador to encourage investors from China to embrace full-cycle investments covering extraction, processing, and manufacturing within Nigeria. He cited the nation’s large market and its increasing interest in clean energy as a basis for such investments.
In a closing remark, Ambassador Dunhai pledged support for Nigeria’s local content and industrialization goals, revealing that plans are already underway.
“One of President Xi Jinping’s key priorities is promoting African industrialization. We are working on plans to establish electric vehicle factories and other manufacturing ventures in Nigeria,” he affirmed.