CMFC bets on Nigeria’s mining expansion, targets funding gap

Critical Minerals Financing Corp Plc (CMFC), formerly Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc, is positioning itself to play a bigger role in Nigeria’s mining industry as the country seeks to diversify its economy away from oil and tap growing global demand for critical minerals used in clean energy technologies.

The company said it has completed its corporate transformation and name change following regulatory approvals, marking a strategic shift toward financing, advisory services, and investments across the mining and commodities value chain.

The move comes as Nigeria intensifies efforts to develop its largely underexplored mineral resources, including lithium, gold, tin, and other strategic minerals, amid rising international demand driven by electric vehicle production, battery manufacturing, and renewable energy infrastructure.

Lamon Rutten, chairman of CMFC, said the transition reflects the company’s focus on providing capital structuring, investment banking, transaction advisory, and project financing services to mining and metals businesses operating across Africa.

“The completion of the transition to Critical Minerals Financing Corp Plc marks the beginning of a new phase for the company,” Rutten said.

He added that the company aims to support operators in sectors including gold, copper, cobalt, lithium, tungsten, tin and tantalum, areas increasingly attracting investor attention as governments and manufacturers seek secure supplies of critical raw materials.

The company’s strategy is centred on addressing what it describes as a major financing and transaction-structuring gap that has long constrained the growth of Africa’s mining industry.

Despite holding some of the world’s largest reserves of strategic minerals, Africa continues to attract a relatively small share of global mining investment, with many projects struggling to secure the capital required for exploration, mine development and processing facilities.

CMFC said it plans to bridge that gap by combining sector expertise with international partnerships and financing solutions tailored to mining companies, commodity traders and institutional investors.

As part of its expansion plans, the company disclosed that Banklink Africa Private Equities Limited, its new core investor, has injected about N6 billion through a recapitalisation programme aimed at strengthening the company’s balance sheet and supporting future growth.

The company also said it has secured commitments and interest from high-net-worth investors based in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Europe as it seeks to build a pipeline of mining and commodities transactions in Nigeria and other African markets.

Israel Ovirih, president and co-chief executive officer of CMFC, said the company is strengthening its governance, operational and financial frameworks to support its next phase of growth.

According to him, CMFC intends to work with mining companies, governments, development finance institutions and international investors to facilitate investments that can help expand local processing capacity and boost exports.

The company’s plans align with the Nigerian government’s efforts to develop the solid minerals sector as a key pillar of economic diversification. Policymakers have increasingly sought to attract private capital into mining while encouraging local processing and value addition rather than the export of raw mineral resources.

Rutten said Nigeria could unlock greater economic benefits from its mineral wealth by strengthening domestic value chains and supporting processing activities within the country.

Under its strategy, CMFC plans to finance activities across the mining value chain, including exploration, feasibility studies, mine development, equipment acquisition and expansion projects. It also intends to support midstream activities such as refining, smelting, beneficiation and mineral processing infrastructure.

The company further plans to provide financing solutions for downstream activities, including commodity trading, logistics, storage facilities and long-term offtake arrangements.

Industry analysts say access to finance remains one of the biggest barriers to the development of Nigeria’s mining sector, particularly for junior exploration companies and indigenous operators seeking to scale up operations.

The emergence of specialised financiers focused on mining could help unlock new investments in a sector that has historically lagged behind oil and gas in attracting capital.

For CMFC, the challenge will be translating investor interest into bankable projects and demonstrating that Nigeria’s mineral potential can generate sustainable returns.

With governments and manufacturers around the world racing to secure supplies of critical minerals, the company is betting that Africa’s vast but underdeveloped resource base will create opportunities for a new generation of mining-focused financiers.

Wasiu Alli

Wasiu Alli is a business, economics cum data journalist with strong expertise covering macro trends, capital markets, government policies, corporate earnings and comparative economics analysis. Alli turns raw data into trends that not only tells compelling stories but nudges investors to make valued and informed decisions. He’s an alumnus of Lagos State University and trained at Lagos Business School. He formerly heads the Companies and Markets desk at BusinessDay where he writes and supervises the production of well researched articles on earnings updates, corporate sectoral comparisons, market intelligence as well as interviews with C-suite executives.