Olamilekan Adegbite, the minister of mines and steel development, has provided an explanation for his decision to reject Tesla Inc.’s request to import raw lithium from Nigeria.
Since the beginning of 2020, the price of lithium, one of the components used in electric car batteries, has increased by more than eightfold, according to Financial Times.
As they compete to increase and protect supply in the center of a global competition, the top automakers in the world have been set against one another and attracted the attention of governments.
Speaking at a summit titled, “Leveraging Future Minerals for Sustainable Development”, Adegbite said a Tesla representative approached him at a summit in Saudi Arabia and showed interest in getting Lithium from Nigeria but he rejected the bid and asked Tesla to set up battery industry in Nigeria.
According to the minister, developing the battery business would enhance Nigeria’s value chain for mineral exploration.
According to Adegbite, the need for minerals from battery storage and electric vehicles is expected to increase 10 to 30 times by 2040.
Over the next two decades, he predicted that the demand for energy minerals will be mostly driven by electric vehicles and battery storage due to the rising demand for battery materials.
“Nigeria is richly endowed with critical minerals. Lithium and tantalum are found in parts of the extensive pegmatite belts of Nigeria,” he said.
He clarified that the metallic or non-metallic elements necessary for the development and operation of contemporary technologies are the future minerals.
He claimed that many countries were hurriedly putting up policies and strategic plans to guarantee the quick growth of the essential energy minerals.
Adegbite stated that Australia is also exploring investment packages to encourage exploration. In July, the U.S. Senate passed an act providing incentives for developing essential minerals.
He claims that China increased imports from underdeveloped countries to increase its vital mineral inventories.
Observing that the growing demand for critical minerals is propelled by the urgent need to secure a low-carbon future, he said, “Countries are increasingly relying on rare earth elements and critical minerals to support their climate commitments.”
According to Adegbite, the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change placed emphasis on the need to reduce the use of non-renewable resources in the production of electricity.
He claimed that the energy transition economy had a substitute in the form of renewable energy.
“The consequence of this major shift is a high demand for critical minerals for use in climate-friendly technologies. The World Bank has estimated the demand for these minerals to triple by 2040. Undoubtedly, the deployment of critical minerals for a clean energy transition will remain significantly intensive for a long time,” he said.
