The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has called for greater transparency and public scrutiny of the recently signed Nigeria-US framework on critical minerals.

The labour organisation said Nigeria must ensure that efforts to attract foreign investment into the mining sector translate into local economic benefits, including jobs, skills development, processing capacity and stronger participation by Nigerian businesses.

Nigeria and the United States signed the framework in New York in September 2026 on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly. The agreement was signed by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

According to the Federal Government, the framework is intended to strengthen cooperation across geological data and exploration, mineral development and processing, infrastructure and technical capacity, while creating a foundation for business-to-business investment in Nigeria’s mineral value chain.

ITUC-Africa General Secretary Akhator Joel Odigie said the organisation was concerned about the limited amount of publicly available information surrounding the framework. He called for the full details to be made available for public examination, particularly provisions relating to specific projects, financing, mineral volumes, pricing, offtake arrangements, governance and domestic value addition.

A major point raised by the labour organisation was the widely reported $700 billion figure associated with the agreement.

ITUC-Africa stressed that the figure should not be interpreted as a $700 billion investment pledge by the United States. Rather, it refers to the Nigerian government's estimate of the country's mineral resources.

Government statements about the agreement similarly describe it as a framework designed to attract American investment into Nigeria's estimated $700 billion mineral resource base, rather than an immediate $700 billion funding commitment.

The distinction has also been reinforced by Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Jumoke Oduwole, who described the critical-minerals framework as an MOU and said it was not legally binding. She said Nigeria was seeking arrangements that would allow the country to develop its mineral value chains domestically while protecting the interests of Nigerian businesses.

ITUC-Africa argued that Nigeria should avoid simply replacing dependence on crude oil exports with dependence on exports of unprocessed minerals such as lithium and other critical minerals.

The organisation called for enforceable provisions covering domestic beneficiation, local content, technology transfer, decent working conditions, taxation, public revenue, environmental protection and benefits for communities hosting mining activities.

The call for greater local processing is consistent with the Federal Government's stated objectives. At the signing ceremony, Alake said Nigeria wanted to move beyond being a supplier of raw materials by expanding local processing, developing skills, creating quality jobs and opening opportunities for Nigerian businesses.

ITUC-Africa also urged closer institutional oversight of agreements of such strategic importance, including appropriate legislative scrutiny and public debate.

The labour organisation said Nigeria's mineral resources should be developed in a way that supports industrialisation and broad-based economic development rather than simply increasing the extraction and export of raw materials.

The government has similarly said that the next stage is to identify commercially viable projects, attract investment and turn the framework into concrete partnerships. Alake described implementation as the critical stage following the signing of the agreement.

The framework comes as Nigeria seeks to diversify its economy away from heavy dependence on oil and position its solid minerals sector within growing global demand for critical minerals.

President Bola Tinubu has previously called for greater African value addition and warned against the continent remaining primarily a source of raw materials for the rest of the world.

For ITUC-Africa, the focus now should be on how the framework is implemented and whether the resulting investments generate measurable benefits for Nigerian workers, businesses and mining communities.

The organisation said it would continue advocating for transparent resource governance, domestic value addition and mineral revenues that can contribute to industrial development, decent employment and wider economic growth.

Reporting by TalkNaijaMedia