Nigeria: Don't Repeat Crude Oil Mistake with 44 Minerals, Says WEC

Nigeria should not repeat the crude oil model with its 44 critical minerals, World Energy Council Nigeria (WEC) CEO Bala Wunti has said.

Wunti said Nigeria spent about half a century exporting crude oil and importing refined petroleum products at higher prices, a pattern he said created poverty instead of prosperity.

He warned that lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements must not suffer the same fate.

The former Chief Upstream Investment Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited spoke in New York on September 21, 2026.

He was a panelist at the Concordia Annual Summit held at the Sheraton New York Times Square alongside the United Nations General Assembly.

The session, titled Rare Currency: Critical Minerals in a Shifting Global Economy, examined the growing demand for strategic minerals, America's dependence on imports and China's dominance of mineral processing.

Wunti said Nigeria should process its minerals at home and use them to build factories, create jobs and support industrial production.

Raw exports offer less value

Wunti said Africa must stop being only a supplier of raw materials and become a processing and manufacturing partner in the global economy.

He said a temporary export arrangement for mineral concentrate could be commercially necessary, but permanent raw mineral exports would amount to “colonial economics.”

He said the real value lies in processing minerals, building factories, creating employment and developing industries on the continent.

For Nigeria, that argument draws directly from its experience with crude oil.

The country has exported crude for decades, yet it has also imported refined petroleum products at higher prices, Wunti said.

He warned that repeating that pattern with critical minerals would deny the country much of the economic value from its mineral resources.

He identified lithium, cobalt and graphite among the minerals that should not simply leave the country in raw form.

Wunti said African countries that develop projects and enter the market quickly would have an advantage in the emerging mineral economy.

Minerals need more than deposits

Wunti said Nigeria's mineral challenge is not simply the presence of resources underground.

The bigger issue, he said, is turning mineral potential into projects that investors can actually finance.

He said Nigeria has geological indications but lacks proven reserves supported by JORC-compliant data.

JORC is a recognised standard used to report mineral resources and reserves.

Wunti also said Nigeria has policies but does not yet have clearly defined projects in enough cases.

“Investors invest in projects, not potential,” he said.

He listed reliable geological data, clearly defined projects, suitable infrastructure, predictable regulation, credible developers and viable routes to market as requirements for private investment.

He said the Nigerian Solid Minerals Company now provides a flagship platform for turning mineral resources into bankable projects with clear commercial propositions.

Wunti also said rare earth elements are not necessarily rare underground.

“They are rare in the market,” he said, explaining that bringing them into commercial production requires capital and technology.

What readers should know or understand

The mineral issue is also tied to global energy security, defence, electricity systems and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Wunti said the world is moving from an era where energy was priced in barrels to one where strategic minerals will be valued in kilograms.

He said control over those minerals, and whether they are controlled by allies or adversaries, will help define the next global industrial order.

He also said no country can secure its energy, defence systems, electricity grid and artificial intelligence infrastructure alone while relying on one country for mineral processing.

Wunti pointed to the United States' need to close its supply gap, noting that domestic production can take decades and that allies are needed.

He said there is still a gap between policy ambition and commercial reality.

He welcomed the United States' introduction of a $110-per-kilogram price floor for critical minerals, saying the measure could give investors greater commercial certainty and reduce investment risks.

Wunti said the lesson is “price, not pitch.”

He said a credible price guarantee could help Nigeria attract processing facilities, create jobs and keep more value from its mineral resources within the country.

His central warning was that Nigeria's 44 minerals should create jobs and industrial wealth, not reproduce the economic pattern associated with decades of crude oil exports.