🍞Pulling resources

Hello!

Adetomiwa here 👋🏽. Losing my mind over the cost of petrol in Lagos.

This edition discusses how Nigeria’s mining industry progress is going compared to the rest of the world. Read and leave feedback at [email protected].

The global clean energy transition has basically turned lithium into the new oil. Every electric vehicle battery, storage system, and renewable energy setup needs it, and countries are scrambling to secure supply before demand explodes even more.

That scramble is now landing in West Africa

This week, Vice President Kashim Shettima said Nigeria’s mining sector attracted $2.62 billion in investments over the last 30 months. The government says it’s trying to move away from the old model of just digging minerals out of the ground and exporting them raw. They now intend to process it here, refine it here, maybe even manufacture here.

Shettima says the country is trying to position itself as a hub for mineral processing and beneficiation, especially for things tied to the green economy. Instead of exporting minerals cheaply and buying finished products back at premium prices, the government wants companies to build factories locally and keep more of the value chain inside Nigeria.

China is already three steps ahead

While Nigeria is talking about becoming a critical minerals powerhouse, China is busy buying up the supply chain.

Chinese mining company Huayou Cobalt is acquiring Atlantic Lithium for $210 million, giving it control over Ghana’s Ewoyaa lithium project and exploration assets in Côte d’Ivoire.

The deal is a reminder that China has been playing the long game in Africa’s mining sector for years. Chinese firms already dominate large chunks of Africa’s cobalt, copper, and nickel industries through acquisitions, infrastructure deals, and financing arrangements. Lithium is just the latest addition to the portfolio.

And Ewoyaa matters because it’s one of West Africa’s most talked-about lithium projects. Ghana only formally approved the mining lease earlier this year after years of delays, finally opening the door for full-scale development.

Now China is stepping in before production really ramps up.

So where does Nigeria fit into this?

Nigeria has lithium deposits too, and the government clearly wants in on the battery metals boom. The difference is that Nigeria is still largely in the “potential” phase, while countries like Ghana are already moving into actual production and global dealmaking.

But the momentum is real

The government has started making local processing a condition for mining licenses, which is meant to stop companies from simply extracting minerals and leaving. There’s also growing investor interest in lithium processing and gold refining facilities inside Nigeria.

The bigger picture

Can Nigeria actually build the infrastructure, regulation, and stability needed to compete in a sector where China already has deep pockets and a massive head start? Because right now, everyone wants Africa’s minerals. The real fight is over who gets to control what happens after they’re mined.

⚡️Nigeria’s power trippin’: Nigeria’s power sector is still running on overworked power plants. In April 2026, the country only managed to use 31% of its installed electricity generation capacity, with just 4,286MW available out of a possible 13,625MW. Even worse, the national grid kept swinging outside safe voltage and frequency levels, which means the system is unstable and could trip at any moment. A small group of plants carried almost the entire country’s electricity supply, with Egbin, Kainji, Jebba, and Ihovbor doing most of the heavy lifting while several others barely functioned at all. Some plants operated at low availability levels, and a few generated absolutely nothing during the month. The bigger picture here is that Nigeria technically has enough installed capacity on paper, but years of gas shortages, poor maintenance, transmission bottlenecks, and fragile grid infrastructure mean a huge chunk of that capacity is basically stranded. So even when generation improves slightly, the system remains one breakdown away from another nationwide power drama.

🤝No beggars, all choosers: Nigeria is giving the World Bank an ultimatum. The government says it may walk away from some World Bank loan arrangements if approvals and disbursements keep dragging on for more than six months, arguing that these are repayable loans, not charity packages that can sit in bureaucratic limbo forever. The warning comes at a time when Nigeria is heavily relying on multilateral funding for infrastructure, agriculture, MSME support, and broader economic reforms. The challenge is that multilateral loans from institutions like the World Bank are usually cheaper than commercial borrowing, but slow approvals can delay projects, stall budgets, and make government plans harder to execute. At the same time, Nigeria is trying to reassure lenders that it’s cleaning up its act. So while the government still clearly wants World Bank money, it’s also trying to signal that it wants a more respectful lender-borrower relationship.

🛜 The internet is everywhere: While the Nigerian government is working to increase internet access nationwide, Nigeria’s rural internet is getting a lot better. New data from the Nigerian Communications Commission and Ookla shows upload speeds in rural areas jumped nearly 48% in just six months, so uploading videos is faster, online payments fail less often, streaming is smoother, and working remotely from smaller towns is becoming way more realistic. Telcos like MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria are pushing deeper into underserved areas through shared infrastructure deals and spectrum-sharing arrangements that cut costs while expanding coverage. Some rural speeds are now even outperforming competitors’ urban networks. This progress means more people can run businesses online, work remotely, use fintech apps reliably, stream educational content, and participate in the wider economy without needing to relocate to a major city first.

For weeks, Nigerian airlines have warned that the cost of jet fuel will force them to start cancelling routes. That warning is now becoming reality. Last week, Rano Air suspended some flight routes after Jet A1 prices reportedly jumped more than 300%, making certain routes unprofitable to operate. Air Peace also cut back its Abuja–London flights due to fuel supply issues.

The deeper issue is that Nigeria’s Jet A1 crisis isn’t just about temporary shortages. Aviation fuel prices are tied to global oil benchmarks and the naira’s exchange rate, which means local airlines are exposed every time oil prices move or the currency weakens. The government has tried to calm things down with fee reductions, capped pricing, and proposed credit arrangements, but fuel marketers say those are more like painkillers than a cure. Without broader fixes — like better local refining capacity, naira-based fuel sales, and stronger supply chain support — airlines will likely keep suspending routes, raising fares, or both. And for passengers, that probably means fewer flights, more delays, and more expensive tickets for a while.

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