The Federal Government has launched the Early-Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment programme, known as EMERGE, as part of efforts to accelerate mineral exploration, support research institutions, and promote local processing of Nigeria’s mineral resources.
The programme was unveiled on Wednesday in Abuja by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake. The initiative is expected to provide funding support for mineral explorers, universities, and companies involved in critical minerals development while addressing financing challenges that have slowed the growth of the mining sector.
Speaking at the launch, Alake described EMERGE as a strategic intervention under the Federal Government’s reform agenda to reposition the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification and industrial development.
According to the minister, the programme will be implemented through the Solid Minerals Development Fund and is designed to transform Nigeria’s vast mineral resources into sustainable economic prosperity.
“The clearest proof of all this sits in federation revenues,” Alake said.
“In 2023, this sector earned the Federation about N16 billion. In 2024, that figure rose to N38 billion. In 2025, it crossed N70 billion. That is growth of more than 337 per cent in two years from the same minerals, the same ground, governed differently.”
Alake explained that EMERGE will operate through three key funding streams aimed at strengthening different areas of the mining value chain.
The Exploration Stream will support early-stage activities focused on identifying and proving new mineral deposits. The Critical Minerals Stream will fund the search for minerals required for the global energy transition and support technologies that enable local processing and refinement. The Research and Development Stream will provide funding for geoscience and mineral-processing research.
“This brings me to EMERGE and to why it matters so much. EMERGE works through three streams,” Alake stated.
“The Exploration Stream funds the grassroots, early-stage work that finds and proves new mineral deposits.
“The Critical Minerals Stream funds both the search for the minerals that the global energy transition demands and the processing technologies that allow us to refine them here in Nigeria. The Research and Development Stream funds the geoscience and mineral-processing research that underpins all of this.”
The minister noted that the initiative would strengthen the implementation of the ministry’s Seven-Point Agenda by improving the availability of reliable mineral data and encouraging domestic value addition.
He further assured stakeholders that all applications would be assessed strictly on merit and managed independently by PwC to guarantee transparency, accountability, and fairness throughout the process.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Hajiya Fatima Umaru Shinkafi, said EMERGE was created to tackle the persistent shortage of early-stage financing in the mining industry.
“EMERGE, the Early-Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment, is a competitively awarded grant facility designed to address one of the most persistent gaps in our sector: the shortage of early-stage capital for exploration, for critical minerals and for research and development,” she said.
Shinkafi added that the programme forms part of wider efforts to attract private-sector investment into mining, encourage innovation, and support value addition within Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.
Industry stakeholders believe the initiative could help unlock new mineral discoveries, strengthen research capacity, and position Nigeria as a more competitive destination for mining investment. The programme is also expected to support the government’s broader goal of expanding non-oil revenue sources and driving sustainable economic growth.
