Nigeria, Saudi Arabia Open Talks on Iron Ore and Steel Partnership

Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have established partnership to extract and process iron ore, heralding a step towards Nigeria’s industrial development.

The agreement emerged from high-level discussions between Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, and Khalid Al-Musdaifer, Saudi Arabia’s deputy minister of minerals and energy.

In line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, the partnership aims to transform Nigeria’s mineral resources into value-added industrial products. Alake emphasized the economic advantage of processing iron ore locally, highlighting that finished steel products command substantially higher global market prices.

Saudi Arabia’s advanced steel industry has expressed keen interest in Nigeria’s iron ore resources, layong the groundwork for a high-impact economic collaboration.

A follow-up meeting is scheduled for January 2025 in Riyadh during the future metals forum, promising to further solidify the bilateral industrial partnership.