Nasarawa 2024 investment summit: Lithium is the future-Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has urged states rich in lithium to invest in the mining sector for economic growth, saying it holds the key to the future.

At the 2-day Nasarawa Investment Summit 2024 themed, “The Industrial Renaissance,” Tinubu who was represented by Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, lauded Nasarawa governor, Abdullahi Sule’s efforts in attracting investors, urging other states to follow suit.

The president said Nasarawa’s recent milestone in launching a 4,000-ton per day processing plant in the mining sector, underscores the state’s commitment to growth.

Tinubu stressed lithium’s prominence in future industries, urging states rich in the mineral to capitalise on global demand.

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Governor Sule affirmed Nasarawa’s commitment to economic stimulation, wealth creation, and job generation through deliberate policies like the “Nasarawa Economic Development Strategy.” He credited the success of previous investment summits in attracting investors and harnessing the state’s mineral resources.

He said, “Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is pertinent to remind you that Nasarawa State organised the first edition of the Nasarawa Investment Summit in 2022 with the theme, “Diamond in the Rough: The Making of a New Investment Frontier”, aimed at ushering investments and showcasing our mineral resources to potential investors.

“I am happy to state that the outcome of the summit informed the influx of investors into the state who are variously harnessing our God-given endowments. To ensure full utilisation of our potential, we have pledged to sustain the investment summit in order to further showcase other solid mineral resources which are yet to be identified by interested investors,” Sule concluded.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nasarawa State Investment and Development Agency, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said this year’s theme reflects the aspirations of Nasarawa state to usher in a new era of industrial growth and prosperity, having built some of the key fundamentals required to fuel the ambition in the past years.

He added that the theme underscored the state government’s recognition of the pivotal role that industrialisation plays in driving economic development, creating employment opportunities, and improving the quality of life for its citizens.