Shinkafi Builds Mining Investment Record

The Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) is betting on its new EMERGE grant programme to push promising Nigerian mining projects from exploration to commercial viability, as Chief Executive Officer Fatima Umaru Shinkafi builds a record focused on de-risking Shinkafi Builds Mining Investment Record.

The Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) is betting on its new EMERGE grant programme to push promising Nigerian mining projects from exploration to commercial viability, as Chief Executive Officer Fatima Umaru Shinkafi builds a record focused on de-risking investment.

EMERGE will provide competitive grants for early-stage exploration, critical minerals development and processing, and geoscience research, targeting one of the sector’s biggest obstacles: a shortage of bankable projects.

Under Shinkafi, SMDF has also partnered with the Africa Finance Corporation on project development and exploration, while the Fund delivered about $3.5 billion worth of responsibly sourced refined gold to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Shinkafi says the wider reforms have helped drive solid-minerals revenue from N16 billion in 2023 to more than N70 billion in 2025, a 337 per cent increase.

EMERGE now promises to extend that momentum by creating a pipeline of investment-ready mining projects and strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to capture more value from its mineral wealth. Shinkafi Builds Mining Investment Record.

The Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) is betting on its new EMERGE grant programme to push promising Nigerian mining projects from exploration to commercial viability, as Chief Executive Officer Fatima Umaru Shinkafi builds a record focused on de-risking investment.

EMERGE will provide competitive grants for early-stage exploration, critical minerals development and processing, and geoscience research, targeting one of the sector’s biggest obstacles: a shortage of bankable projects.

Under Shinkafi, SMDF has also partnered with the Africa Finance Corporation on project development and exploration, while the Fund delivered about $3.5 billion worth of responsibly sourced refined gold to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Shinkafi says the wider reforms have helped drive solid-minerals revenue from ₦16 billion in 2023 to more than ₦70 billion in 2025, a 337 per cent increase.

EMERGE now promises to extend that momentum by creating a pipeline of investment-ready mining projects and strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to capture more value from its mineral wealth. investment.

EMERGE will provide competitive grants for early-stage exploration, critical minerals development and processing, and geoscience research, targeting one of the sector’s biggest obstacles: a shortage of bankable projects.

Under Shinkafi, SMDF has also partnered with the Africa Finance Corporation on project development and exploration, while the Fund delivered about $3.5 billion worth of responsibly sourced refined gold to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Shinkafi says the wider reforms have helped drive solid-minerals revenue from ₦16 billion in 2023 to more than ₦70 billion in 2025, a 337 per cent increase.

EMERGE now promises to extend that momentum by creating a pipeline of investment-ready mining projects and strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to capture more value from its mineral wealth.