It was in the news recently that Chinese nationals are burrowing in Nigeria’s mines, grabbing whatever deposits of Lithium they could find to sneak back home to fuel their industries. Given that the metal is pricey in the international market and that it is a valuable ingredient in the production of batteries that run the next generation of electric products including electric cars, government must stop the Chinese before it is too late.
Miners under the umbrella of the Miners Association of Nigeria had sent a passionate plea to government to check the activities of Chinese miners “scavenging” for Lithium, saying that their activities will threaten the economy down the line.
They asserted that:
Chinese are moving from one mining site to the other, scavenging and mopping our raw lithium mineral at a cheap rate to develop their industries and economy.
This is not good for the future of our economy; what this means is that Nigeria will end up buying electric batteries from them.
Allowing the Chinese to enter into every mining site is one of the reasons kidnapping is on the increase in Nigeria because they are the major target for kidnappers.
They ended their plea by asking the government to:
Revoke the 100% mining licence granted the Chinese.
Allowing the Chinese have 100% mining assets is not good enough for the indigenous mining investors.
Safeguard our lithium and revive all the moribund companies producing batteries in Nigeria to start using the lithium to produce electric batteries.
Market for Lithium
A look at the market for Lithium obviates the concern and demands of the miners:
Fortune Business Insights puts the value of the global lithium market at $3.83 billion in 2021 and it is projected to double to USD 6.62 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 8.1% in the period. This is more than the more familiar metal, Silver which Grand View Research valued at USD 182.1 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.0% in terms of revenue from 2020 to 2027.
What FG must do
Seeing that exploiting Lithium has the potential to add to the economy especially when value addition is done, the government should move swiftly to end the total control of these mines and indeed mines for other minerals across the nation. Licenses for exploitation should come with conditions attached; the condition of processing these raw metals into by-products here in Nigeria and the export of these products fully controlled by local regulators.
The government knows as much; it was in the news that the minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, while speaking at a summit titled, “Leveraging Future Minerals for Sustainable Development”, said a Tesla representative approached him at a summit in Saudi Arabia and showed interest in getting Lithium from Nigeria but he rejected the bid and asked Tesla to set up battery industry in Nigeria.
Once such attention is given to value addition which means the setting up of industries, jobs will be created for Nigerians and once these products are exported, forex is earned for the country. Once this is achieved across the board for all the precious metals in Nigeria including Uranium, gold, Bitumen, Columbite, and hundreds more, Nigeria would be on its way to significantly reducing the 33% unemployment of the economy. The time to start is now.
