The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maitama Yusuf Tuggar, has said he demanded that China invest in refining Lithium in the country rather than the current export of the mineral resources out of the country.
Naija News reported that China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, was in Nigeria on Thursday on a diplomatic tour.
Yi said he was in the country to work out the implementation of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation(FOCAC) agreements.
Speaking on the demands made to the Chinese government through Yi, in an interview on Channels TV, Tuggar disclosed that the demand was in line with the federal government’s policy of stimulating production in the country.
He explained that the government wanted the Chinese business community to utilize trade zones in the country for assembling electric vehicles.
He emphasized that this would help boost the country’s foreign exchange while creating employment for the citizens.
“Instead of exporting lithium to China, we’re saying refine it here locally. I’m sure you will be aware that there’s a Chinese group that invested in metals refining in Nassarawa State forests. We want to see more of that.
“We want to see them utilize our special economic zones to locate their electric vehicle assembling plants here in Nigeria, so that Nigeria can become a hub. Since we already even have the lithium that is used for the batteries for the electric vehicles, let us set up that supply and value chain here and let us domesticate it,” he said.