Nigeria’s mining sector holds untapped mineral assets, and it contributes just 1.8% to the nation’s GDP in 2025. With sweeping reforms underway and new exploration funding projected for 2025, mining could be the key driver of Nigeria’s economic diversification.
In this interview, Tim Tokun, Director of Mineral Resource Development at Romulus Mining and Exploration Limited, examines Nigeria’s regulatory challenges, investor confidence, and the building blocks required to unlock large-scale exploration and sustainable mining growth. Excerpts:
What structural gaps must be addressed to unlock large-scale exploration investment in Nigeria?
There are no complex “structures” to fix the sector; the fundamentals are far more straightforward than many appreciate. This is largely because mining remains an embryonic sector in Nigeria.
At its core, resource-compliant geological exploration is the business case. It unlocks funding by enabling proper economic evaluation and building investor confidence. Without resource-compliant data, there is no pathway to monetising a mineral deposit. Exploration is capital-intensive and will always be so, but that is a commercial decision for promoters. When executed properly, the upside, supported by timing and a measure of luck, can be substantial.
How can Nigeria reposition itself as a credible exploration destination in competition with established African mining jurisdictions?
This is less about repositioning and more about recognising Nigeria’s existing advantage. Nigeria has the potential to be the last large-scale resource frontier on the continent. Over the past decade, significant volumes of critical metals have been exported through mechanised extraction, reinforcing this position.
That said, nothing can substitute for resource-compliant geological exploration data. It remains the single most important determinant of credibility in global mining investment.
What reforms, fiscal, regulatory, or institutional, would have the most immediate impact on investor confidence in Nigeria’s mining sector?
A transparent and credible cadastral system is critical. There must also be stronger, more centralised inter-agency coordination within the Ministry of Mines, as the current fragmentation undermines efficiency and economic optimisation.
Geological data infrastructure must be properly developed and continuously maintained. Government incentives should be clear and uncompromised: five-year tax holidays, tariff waivers on mining equipment, and the unrestricted repatriation of profits net of royalties, corporate taxes and local obligations.
Security remains a major deterrent to exploration and must be addressed decisively. In addition, a fully enforced “use-it-or-lose-it” policy on mineral titles is essential.
Across Africa, where do you see the most compelling exploration opportunities emerging over the next decade, and why?
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia stand out as the most mineralised countries on the continent. The DRC, in particular, ranks among the top three globally in terms of the quality, quantity and diversity of proven mineral assets. The emergence of new leadership with deep mining experience is a positive signal for the sector.
Morocco is also progressing well, largely due to reforms that have cleaned up its cadastral system, with no tolerance for non-performing licence holders.
Namibia and Botswana remain top-tier jurisdictions, consistently recognised by the Fraser Institute. Both are highly mineralised, with diverse and underexplored terrains offering significant exploration upside.
How can African governments better leverage exploration success to catalyse downstream development and industrialisation?
Once resource-compliant exploration data confirms economic grades and sufficient tonnage to support a viable mine life, the most significant hurdle has been cleared. Governments are then naturally incentivised to offer favourable terms to attract international mining companies to invest in infrastructure and processing facilities. Ore beneficiation and value addition follow logically when the fundamentals are proven.
How can mining projects contribute to economic diversification, skills transfer, and local enterprise development?
Mining at the right scale creates a broad ecosystem of economic activity. Many large projects directly employ over a thousand people, and with the growing pool of skilled African professionals, as much as 95 per cent of the workforce can be local. This drives skills transfer, local enterprise development and long-term economic diversification.
From Romulus’ experience, what differentiates exploration programmes that attract long-term capital from those that struggle to move beyond discovery?
Mineral exploration is an inexact science. Projects that transition successfully into mining typically benefit from several favourable factors, many of which cannot be predetermined. Market dynamics are central; commodity prices depend on global demand at specific points in time.
A deposit of metal may be highly prolific, but if global demand is limited, it may not carry strong economic merit within a promoter’s portfolio.
What distinguishes Romulus’ approach to project selection and development in Africa?
Romulus adopts a broad-based commodity strategy combined with high-quality land holdings. Our diversified portfolio is unmatched on the continent.
We focus on metals critical to energy and national security, often requiring eight to nine different commodities to produce end-use technologies. Romulus is the only company with all these asset-class metals in a single portfolio, within one jurisdiction and under a single tax regime. This uniquely positions us as a platform for streamlining renewable energy and strategic minerals development.
What responsibility do exploration companies have in shaping the sustainability of future mining operations?
Companies must set high standards and adhere to them rigorously. Environmental baseline assessments cannot be symbolic; they must be fully implemented. Mining has faced criticism due to environmental degradation and the failure of some operators to reclaim or backfill pits after depletion.
Responsibility also lies with regulators, who must enforce compliance through mechanisms such as performance bonds embedded in mining charters, callable if environmental obligations are not met.
How important is local partnership in Romulus’ long-term growth strategy across African mining jurisdictions?
Mining is not a solo endeavour. The capital intensity and wide range of skills required – technical, financial, legal, regulatory and partnerships – are inevitable. Governments, service providers, financiers and, crucially, host communities are central to long-term success.
How can mining investment be used to unlock shared infrastructure, such as power and rail, that benefits the wider Nigerian economy?
Mining is inherently infrastructure-heavy. From pit to port, logistics are unavoidable, except for precious metals, which have relatively light infrastructure requirements; most minerals are bulky and depend on robust road and rail networks even before feasibility is established.
The rehabilitation of Angola’s Benguela Railway illustrates the impact of shared infrastructure. The 1,300 km Lobito Corridor, linking Angola, Zambia and the DRC, was upgraded at a cost of about $1.5 billion through a consortium of international partners. It has transformed regional logistics and reduced transport times dramatically, benefiting multiple economies.
Nigeria can draw valuable lessons from such projects, but the starting point remains the same: build resource-compliant geological datasets.
