Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have initiated discussions to develop Nigeria’s iron ore and steel industry, according to Nigerian media reports.
During the Resourcing Tomorrow event at the Mines and Money expo in London, Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Development Minister, Dele Alake, met with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, Khalid bin Saleh Al-Musdaifer. The talks focused on extracting iron ore and establishing steel processing facilities in Nigeria.
Saudi Arabia, which imports iron ore from African countries for its robust steel industry, was urged by Alake to support iron ore beneficiation and steel production within Nigeria. He emphasized that value-added exports would command better prices than raw ores.
Al-Musdaifer expressed interest in sourcing iron ore for Saudi Arabia’s steel sector and indicated the proposal for localizing the value chain in Nigeria would be considered.
A follow-up meeting is planned for January 2025 in Riyadh during the Future Metals Forum.
