A new dawn for Nigeria, Africa’s mineral and commodity ecosystem
Nigeria’s minerals and commodities ecosystem received a major boost yesterday as shareholders of DEAP Capital Management & Trust Plc approved the full transition of the company into Africa’s largest private mineral financing group, Critical Minerals Financing Corporation (CMFC) Plc.
At a packed annual general meeting held at the Providence Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos State, excited shareholders unanimously approved several joint resolutions, including changing the company name, approving a strategic restructuring, raising additional capital globally and implementing strategic corporate transformation initiatives, empowering the board to enter into national and global alliances as part of the birth of a new company that will lead Africa’s mining sector into a new era of homegrown value addition and shared prosperity.
Critical Minerals Financing Corporation (CMFC) Plc, while maintaining its listing on the Nigeria Exchange (NGX), explores global financial markets to provide much-needed financial solutions across the mineral value chain from Nigeria to other African countries.
Excited to see the company’s stock price quadrupled since the arrival of a new core investor, shareholders said they expected the new business direction to lead CMFC to a toast with retail investors.
Shareholders also approved the appointment of Ramon Rutten, founding CEO of the Saudi Mining Exchange and the Mumbai Commodity Exchange (MCX). Dr. Israel Owiri, Nigeria’s leading financial expert. Top banker Tope Oduseso and technology entrepreneur and businessman Francis Eken have been appointed as directors of the company.
Subsequently, at a board meeting following the shareholders’ meeting, the company’s directors appointed Mr. Rutten as the new chairman, and Mr. Ovili was appointed president, co-CEO and chief operating officer. Anthony Adigwe has been appointed acting chief executive officer. Ikenna Oguike was appointed Chief Operating Officer during a transition period as the company’s transformation took shape. This meeting authorized the Directors to reconstitute the Board of Directors and related committees.
Yesterday’s general meeting was a sequel to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between DEAP Capital and Banklink Africa Private Equities Limited and the injection of fresh capital into DEAP Capital by Banklink Africa. Subject to shareholder approval, Banklink Africa plans to inject additional capital into CMFC Plc.
The company has also secured several global high-net-worth investors from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Europe, and plans are underway to further explore the existing pipeline of investment commitments from around the world.
Commenting on the emergence of CMFC Plc, Rutten said the new company will bring significant synergies to Africa’s global standing by domesticating the value of the continent’s natural resources through full optimization of the mineral value chain.
He outlined that the company, which has Nigerian origins, would gradually build its business by using Nigeria’s experience as a showcase of its capabilities and potential to persuade other African countries and seek immediate deals within Nigeria’s mineral sector.
He noted that the emergence of CMFC is in line with Nigeria’s economic diversification agenda, noting that by optimizing the value chain of critical minerals, Nigeria can deepen economic growth and spread prosperity across the country.
“CMFC invests in portfolio companies across the mineral value chain. In the upstream sector, we will be active in exploration financing, pre-feasibility studies, feasibility studies, mine development and expansion, mechanization and fleet financing.”
“In the midstream, CMFC links financing to refining and smelting operations, beneficiation plants, processing infrastructure, concentrate and intermediate product production. Ultimately, we complete the cycle with bespoke financing solutions to downstream operators, including commodity trading, long-term offtake partnerships, metal storage and logistics, and resource-backed financing instruments. We can therefore perform a full range of valuations in the minerals sector, delivering significant synergies across the country,” Rutten said.
He said Africa boasts more than 30 percent of the world’s mineral reserves, but most of them remain undeveloped and undercapitalized. However, growing private sector interest in exploration and mineral beneficiation presents a significant opportunity to fill the critical funding gap that is hampering the continent’s growth.
Mr Owili, a leading financier and Chairman of Banklink Africa, praised the shareholders who shared the vision of CMFC as Africa’s financial powerhouse for critical minerals and commodities.
He explained that the company will provide access to Nigerian and other African companies in the metals and minerals ecosystem to raise much-needed capital around the world.
He noted that due to the caliber of investors, the expertise of the Board of Directors, and the enthusiasm that welcomed the emergence of CMFC, the group will enable the raising of billions of dollars in private capital for the critical minerals and rare earth industries in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
“We are witnessing a new dawn for Nigerian and African businesses in the minerals and commodities sector. The arrival of CMFC is particularly beneficial at a time when Nigeria is exploring opportunities to catapult its economy to $1 trillion. Nigeria is well-endowed and we see the minerals sector contributing further to economic growth by linking businesses and capital,” Owili said.
He said the CMFC could be a game-changer for Nigeria’s economy, citing exploding global demand for critical minerals and rare earths that drive energy transition, digitalisation, aerospace, electric vehicles and advanced manufacturing.
He said CFMC envisions itself as an institutional gateway for private capital seeking scalable exposure to Africa’s critical minerals and rare earths.
He said CMFC is coming in to fill a major gap in the minerals sector as there is currently no private sector-focused company offering both equity and credit across the entire mine-to-market value chain, as well as in beneficiation and processing infrastructure, logistics, trading, financing for structured water withdrawals, and beyond the metals and minerals sector.
He added that with its unique model of combining NGX retail participation and international institutional capital, CMFC’s strong leadership in global mining finance with a built-in capital market issuance platform is ideally suited to support all executives in the mining business.
He said the company plans to tap into its pipeline of early deals in gold, copper, lithium and medium-sized mines.
Ovili said CMFC operates a multi-regional structure with offices in Lagos, London, Hong Kong, South Africa and Nairobi, among others, for origination, financing and trading.
The outgoing Chairman of DEAP Capital Management & Trust Plc, Dr. Kenneth Orise, represented by the company’s Vice Chairman, Mr. Edmundo Ani, appealed to shareholders to support the new core investors in making the company a huge investment success for everyone.
Announcing the impending reorganization of the Board of Directors and the resignation of him and other directors, Mr Orise said Banklink Africa Private Equity Limited is determined to build the company into a globally competitive non-bank financial services group.
