Bala Wunti Urges Nigeria to Turn 44 Critical Minerals Into Jobs, Factories and Wealth

CEO of World Energy Council Nigeria, Mr Bala Wunti

Nigeria’s 44 critical minerals could become a major source of industrial investment, employment and infrastructure development if the country shifts from exporting raw resources towards domestic processing and manufacturing.

Bala Wunti, Chief Executive Officer of the World Energy Council Nigeria, has urged the Federal Government to develop the country’s mineral resources into processing facilities, factories and productive industries rather than relying primarily on raw mineral exports.

/ You Might Also Like /

The argument places greater emphasis on the infrastructure and investment requirements needed to convert Nigeria’s mineral potential into commercially viable industrial projects.

Nigeria Seeks Greater Value From Critical Minerals

Wunti made the call at the 2026 Concordia Annual Summit in New York, where he participated in a panel examining the growing strategic importance of critical minerals and global supply chains.

He argued that Nigeria should avoid repeating the pattern associated with crude oil, where raw resources were exported while the country imported higher-value refined products.

According to Wunti, the greater economic opportunity lies in developing processing and manufacturing capacity domestically, allowing Nigeria to retain more value while creating employment and industrial activity.

From Mineral Deposits to Investable Projects

A major challenge, Wunti said, is the gap between Nigeria's mineral potential and the availability of projects that private investors can actually finance.

He identified reliable geological data, clearly defined projects, enabling infrastructure, predictable regulation, credible developers and viable routes to market as key requirements for attracting private capital.

The issue is significant because investors require evidence of commercially viable resources and projects rather than geological potential alone.

Wunti said the Nigerian Solid Minerals Company is intended to help convert mineral resources into defined, bankable investment opportunities.

Infrastructure Critical to Mining Investment

The development of mineral-processing industries would require substantial supporting infrastructure.

Processing plants need reliable electricity, roads, rail connections, water, telecommunications, storage facilities and efficient routes for moving minerals and finished products to domestic and export markets.

This creates an important connection between the mining sector and Nigeria’s broader infrastructure and property markets.

Where commercially viable mineral projects emerge, demand could increase for industrial land, warehouses, worker accommodation, logistics facilities, offices and other supporting property.

Mineral Processing Could Create New Industrial Corridors

A shift towards local processing could also influence the geography of Nigeria’s industrial development.

Rather than exporting minerals directly from extraction sites, processing facilities could create clusters of manufacturing and logistics activity around mining regions.

Such clusters could generate demand for industrial estates, transport infrastructure, commercial centres and housing as workers and businesses move closer to emerging economic hubs.

The potential property impact would depend heavily on the scale and location of individual projects, as well as the availability of supporting infrastructure.

Private Capital Needed to Unlock Mineral Potential

Wunti said private capital would be essential to developing critical mineral projects, while government should focus on reducing the risks that prevent investors from committing funds.

He identified geological uncertainty, regulatory unpredictability, inadequate infrastructure and inefficient permitting as barriers that need to be addressed.

He also pointed to commercially viable pricing and credible buyers as important conditions for investment.

This suggests that Nigeria's mineral strategy will require more than resource identification. Projects must be structured around financing, infrastructure, processing technology and reliable markets.

Critical Minerals Could Strengthen Manufacturing

Developing domestic processing capacity could also provide raw materials for industries operating within Nigeria.

Lithium, graphite, cobalt and rare-earth elements have growing importance in global energy, technology and manufacturing supply chains. Wunti argued that Nigeria should seek to participate further up those value chains rather than remain primarily a supplier of raw materials.

Greater local processing could therefore create opportunities for manufacturing facilities and associated industrial property, depending on investment flows and the commercial viability of individual mineral projects.

Jobs and Urban Development Could Follow Investment

Large-scale industrial projects typically generate demand beyond the core processing facility.

Construction workers, engineers, logistics operators, manufacturers, service providers and other businesses can create secondary demand for housing and commercial space around industrial locations.

For Nigeria's property market, this means successful mineral projects could potentially create new development corridors outside established commercial centres.

However, this outcome would depend on sustained investment and adequate infrastructure rather than mineral deposits alone.

Government Role Remains Critical

The government’s role, according to Wunti, should centre on creating conditions that make projects bankable while allowing private investors to provide much of the capital required for development.

This includes improving geological information, strengthening regulation, speeding up permitting and providing infrastructure that connects mining projects to processing facilities and markets.

The broader objective is to reduce uncertainty sufficiently for investors to commit long-term capital to the sector.

Outlook

Nigeria's 44 critical minerals represent a potential source of industrial, infrastructure and economic development, but converting that potential into measurable investment will depend on the creation of commercially viable projects.

Greater domestic processing could generate demand for industrial facilities, logistics infrastructure, housing and commercial property around emerging mining and manufacturing corridors.

For the real estate sector, the key opportunity is therefore not simply the existence of mineral resources, but whether Nigeria can turn those resources into bankable industrial projects supported by infrastructure, capital and reliable markets.

READ MORE