- The Federal Government has officially launched the Early-Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment programme, known as EMERGE, to drive mineral exploration and local processing.
- Solid Minerals Development Minister Dele Alake revealed that sector revenues surged by over 337 percent in two years, climbing from ₦16 billion in 2023 to over ₦70 billion by 2025.
- The competitive grant facility will be administered independently by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to guarantee maximum transparency and ensure funds are strictly merit-based.
The Federal Government on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, officially launched a new intervention programme to accelerate mineral exploration, support research institutions, and aggressively promote the local processing of Nigeria’s solid minerals.
Named the Early-Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment (EMERGE), Eko Hot Blog reports that the initiative was unveiled in Abuja by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
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The programme is designed to provide critical catalytic funding for exploration companies, research institutions, and universities.
This intervention directly addresses the persistent shortage of early-stage capital that has historically slowed down growth in Nigeria’s mining sector.
During the launch, Minister Alake highlighted the major economic progress recorded under the administration’s reform agenda.
He stated that the solid minerals sector is fast becoming a major contributor to Nigeria’s economic diversification.
To back his point, Alake shared verified federation revenues showing that sector earnings rose sharply from ₦16 billion in 2023 to ₦38 billion in 2024.
The revenue eventually crossed the ₦70 billion mark in 2025. He explained that this rapid growth represents a 337 percent increase in just two years. This was achieved by governing the exact same minerals differently.
The EMERGE initiative, which will be executed through the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), operates across three targeted funding paths.
The Exploration Stream will focus entirely on early-stage, grassroots field work to discover and prove new mineral deposits across the country.
The Critical Minerals Stream will finance the search for transition minerals demanded by global clean energy markets.
It will also fund local refining technologies to ensure processing stays within Nigeria.
Finally, the Research and Development Stream will back crucial geoscience studies that support the entire industry.
Alake added that international firm PwC has been brought on board to independently manage the applications.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Hajiya Fatima Umaru Shinkafi, spoke on the structural design of the facility.
She explained that EMERGE is a competitively awarded grant tailored to solve the lack of high-risk capital for early-stage mineral exploration. Shinkafi noted that the programme will foster private-sector participation and scale up domestic value addition.
This development aligns with the ministry’s established Seven-Point Agenda, creating a reliable national mineral database while building long-term industrial wealth.
