Oladele Henry Alake, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development and the Chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group has joined the upcoming African Mining Week (AMW) – Africa’s premier gathering for mining stakeholders – as a speaker.
Alake will speak on the Ministerial Forum panel titled From Extraction to Transformation: African Governments Driving Beneficiation and Value Creation, where he is expected to showcase reforms, policies and opportunities emerging as Nigeria advances investment, beneficiation and sustainable mining practices.
African Mining Week serves as a premier platform for exploring the full spectrum of mining opportunities across Africa. The event is held alongside the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2025 conference from October 1-3 in Cape Town. Sponsors, exhibitors and delegates can learn more by contacting sales@energycapitalpower.com.
Minister Alake’s participation reflects Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening the link between mining and energy as a driver of sustainable economic growth and industrialization. His participation is timely with Nigeria deploying an ambitious strategy aimed at revamping policies, building infrastructure, strengthening global partnerships and building a competitive local workforce to advance industry’s contribution to GDP to 10%.
In April 2025, Nigeria signed an agreement with South Africa to collaborate on geological mapping using drone technology, share mineral data and jointly explore critical minerals. Nigeria is also prioritizing the digital transformation of the industry for transparency and efficiency. The country allocated ₦2.5 billion in March 2025 for satellite surveillance to monitor mine sites in real time, track extraction volumes, transport and security. Nigeria’s use of its new Mineral Resources Decision Support System aims to provide global investors with streamlined access to geological and policy data. Nigeria also issued 867 new mining licenses and generated ₦6.95 billion in revenue during Q1 2025 alone as part of efforts to enhance cooperation with global players to unlock mining sector expansion.
Against this backdrop, AMW offers an ideal platform for Minister Alake to engage with global investors and showcase Nigeria’s diverse mineral portfolio – spanning 44 commercially viable resources including bitumen, limestone, coal, iron ore, and gold.
Africa Fact: The Songhai Empire of 16th century West Africa had a government position called Minister for Etiquette and Protocol. Africa Fact: The mediaeval Nigerian city of Benin was built to “a scale comparable with the Great Wall of China”. There was a vast system of defensive walling totalling 10,000 miles in all. Even before the full extent of the city walling had become apparent the Guinness Book of Records carried an entry in the 1974 edition that described the city as: “The largest earthworks in the world carried out prior to the mechanical era.”
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Fun South African Fact: The world’s largest diamond was found in the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa on 25 January 1905.
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Fun South African Fact: Mandela’s house on Vilakazi Street is now a museum. The man who the street was named after, Dr BW Vilakazi, was a poet, novelist and intellectual. He helped develop the written form of both isiZulu and siSwati and helped put together the isiZulu dictionary.