Nigeria’s push to attract private capital into its solid minerals sector is set to face critical scrutiny as the Ore Reserves Development Forum (ORDF) and the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) move to draft what could become the country’s first coordinated mining finance framework.

The two institutions will host a technical workshop on December 9 in Abuja, bringing together miners, lenders, regulators and policy actors to assess why mining projects continue to struggle with financing despite expanded government interest in diversification.

In a statement signed by Abdulmajeed Amussah, technical adviser to the executive secretary, SMDF, it stated that a major concern among investors remains the credibility of geological and project data, which funders say undermines due-diligence processes and raises risk premiums on Nigerian mining ventures.

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ORDF officials say the absence of consistent reporting standards and transparent reserve classifications has contributed to stalled investment across the value chain.

The workshop is expected to examine issues such as mineral reporting rules, financing structures from exploration to production, and regulatory incentives that could lower entry risks for both banks and private equity.

Participants will also identify structural constraints, including weak technical capacity and gaps in project preparation—factors that continue to push Nigerian mining deals outside mainstream capital markets.

At the end of the session, stakeholders are expected to produce a draft Mining Finance Framework, which will undergo further review by a multi-agency technical working group. The framework aims to provide clearer guidance for investors, outline reporting expectations for miners, and strengthen transparency across the sector.

The ORDF emerged from the Geological Society of Nigeria’s Roundtable 2.0 initiative, which highlighted systemic weaknesses in ore-reserve classification and the lack of structured financing instruments tailored to mining.

Stàkeholders say a credible finance framework could help position mining as a more bankable component of Nigeria’s industrial strategy, though the extent of its adoption and will depend on government alignment and regulatory follow-through.