Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Miner and commodities giant Glencore (LON: GLEN) said on Friday the company was looking at investing in Nigeria’s mining sector, provided the government guarantees a stable business environment.
CEO Gary Nagle, who met the country’s minister responsible for solid minerals, Dele Alake, said his company is especially interested in nickel, cobalt, zinc and other metals.
This visit coincides with Nigeria’s efforts to attract foreign investors to its underdeveloped mining sector.
Alake highlighted the federal government’s push to attracting major international companies to accelerate the growth of the mining sector, similar to what the nation did with its oil industry.
“We are offering tax waivers on imported equipment; policy of full repatriation of profits to home countries; removing bottlenecks to ease of doing business. The ministry is also ready to address any concerns that Glencore might have to facilitate smooth operations in Nigeria,” Alake said.
The government this week cancelled inactive licenses and announced that it will only issue new mining licenses to companies that engage in local mineral processing.
Glencore has done business in Nigeria in the past, which ended with corruption charges and penalties.
Between 2007 and 2018, Glencore inked multiple agreements to buy crude oil and refined products from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries.
The UK Serious Fraud Office said in 2022 that Glencore had paid more than $28 million in bribes across five African countries, including Nigeria, over five years to 2016. An English judge handed down a penalty of £276 million ($345 million) for Glencore’s corrupt conduct.
Nigeria, Africa’s leading energy producer, has faced challenges in extracting value from its vast mineral resources. This has been largely due to insufficient incentives and neglect of the mining sector. As a result, the country’s underdeveloped mining industry contributes less than 1% to Nigeria’s gross domestic product.
