The Nigerian delegation, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to strengthening strategic alliances with Japan and other international partners at TICAD-9 in Yokohama, Japan.
During the engagements on the sidelines of the three-day conference at TICAD-9, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, and the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) pledged to develop plans to encourage Japanese mining companies to invest in Nigeria’s mining sector.
Nigeria’s participation was built on the recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval for counterpart funding of N19,083,192,805.30 to catalyze a loan funding of $238 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
This loan funding will support the expansion of the national grid with the addition of 102.95km of new 330kV double circuit (DC) line, 104.59km of new 132kV double circuit (DC) line, four 330/132/33kV substations, two132/33kv substations, two 330kV line bays extension, two 132kV line bays extension, and one 132kV Substation.
In a statement by Bolaji Tunji, spokesman for the Minister of Power, Minister Adebayo Adelabu announced that Nigeria is advancing a $190 million renewable energy loan facility supported by JICA, designed to scale distributed renewable energy solutions across underserved communities.
According to the statement, this development builds on the recently launched $750 million World Bank Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) program under the Mission 300 Compact, which aims to bring clean and reliable electricity to more than 17 million Nigerians.
“In parallel, three substations funded by JICA through a $32 million grant are set for commissioning in Apo (FCT), Keffi (Nasarawa State), and Apapa (Lagos State). These projects will directly strengthen supply reliability to households, businesses, and industrial clusters, including critical facilities such as the Lagos Port and surrounding industrial areas,” it stated.
In the same vein, the President of JOGMEC, Mr. Michio Daito, welcomed the Minister of Solid Minerals Development and noted that although Nigeria’s rich mineral resources are well known, Japanese mining companies need more information on the overall Nigerian economy to assess investment risks.
Daito raised issues concerning power generation for industries, tax incentives, labor, duty waivers, free trade zones, as well as entry and exit conditions. He noted that Japanese mining firms rely on JOGMEC to make investment decisions in foreign countries and therefore requested information on the state of the infrastructure that supports mining.
In his response, Dr. Alake highlighted the reforms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, such as the removal of the petroleum subsidy and the stabilization of the exchange rate, which have facilitated investments and strengthened the solid minerals sector. He acknowledged the industrial nature of the Japanese economy and the importance of electrical technologies.