Saudi Arabia, Nigeria advance partnership on iron ore extraction

Onome Amuge

Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have forged an agreement to extract iron ore and produce steel in Nigeria, initiated by Dele Alake, the minister of solid minerals development,and Khalid Al-Musdaifer, the deputy minister of minerals and energy of Saudi Arabia.

A statement by Kehinde Bamigbetan, special adviser to the minister of solid minerals development, on Monday in Abuja, noted that the partnership between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia aims to tap into the country’s mineral wealth to stimulate industrial growth, a key pillar of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.

Minister Alake also underscored the strategic value of beneficiating iron ore into steel locally in Nigeria, which would fetch higher prices compared to exporting raw ores, while at the same time helping to spur economic development and job creation in the mining sector.

Alake further noted that Saudi Arabia, with its established steel industry, expressed a strong interest in sourcing iron ore from Nigeria, recognizing the potential of Nigeria’s mineral reserves to meet its steel production needs.

With the Saudi Arabian authorities eagerly seeking to engage in further discussions with their Nigerian counterparts, Alake revealed that a follow-up meeting is slated to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the Future Metals Forum in January 2025.

Building on his meeting with Saudi Arabia’s deputy minister of minerals and energy, Alake stated that he also used the Resourcing Tomorrow event to meet with other investors in a strategic effort to boost sustained mining investment in Nigeria.