DEAP Capital Plc has rebranded as Critical Minerals Financing Corporation Plc (CMFC), an investment company focused on financing Africa’s critical minerals industry as global competition for energy transition metals intensifies.
The name change came after shareholders approved the change at the 12th annual general meeting held in Lagos on Thursday.
The repositioning follows the entry of Banklink Africa Private Equity Limited as a core investor and a fresh capital injection of approximately NOK 6 billion, which the company says will support its ambitions to build a mineral value chain in Nigeria and across the continent.
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Commenting on the development, company chairman Ramon Rutten said the persistent gap between resource wealth and economic prosperity in Africa reflects a failure to capture value locally.
“There is a gap because these resources have not been ‘valued,'” Rutten said in an interview with Business Day.
“How do we extract value from a resource? By funding its development. That’s exactly what this company is trying to do.”
Nigeria and several African countries have deposits of lithium, cobalt, tin and other minerals used in batteries, electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies.
The value of these precious metals is estimated at more than $700 billion in Africa’s most populous economy, much of which remains untapped.
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However, much of the production is exported in raw form, and most of the processing and value addition takes place overseas.
“Most of the value-added wealth actually leaves the country because so much ore is exported without any processing,” Rutten said.
He said CMFC would support integrated supply chains rather than focusing solely on mining, arguing that critical minerals are increasingly seen as foundational in countries looking to build modern manufacturing industries.
“Up until now, the United States has basically viewed the critical minerals strategy as a storage strategy,” he said.
“They’re now looking at how to go upstream, how to go to the mines. They’re looking at it from a value chain perspective.”
Rutten pointed out that much of the capital funding mining projects in Africa comes from outside the continent.
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“Competitors are now doing this from Africa, including funds from Europe, America and even the Middle East,” he said.
“It is actually quite good that African money ‘values’ these African resources.”
Mine development remains capital-intensive and slow-moving, requiring geological and environmental studies, regulatory approvals and complex logistics.
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“When a geologist says there’s a resource in the ground, we need environmental permits and surveys.”
“The logistics of getting products from mines to ports and processing plants is a headache, and government policies are often outdated,” Rutten said. “It’s a slow process.”
DEAP Capital has struggled to fully recover from the 2008 financial crisis, and shareholder funds remain negative.
However, with a new board of directors including newly elected directors (Israel Owili, Tope Oduseso and Francis Eken) and a capital increase of 6 billion naira, management is expected to stabilize.
The company narrowed its loss to N9 million for the year ending September 2025 from N19.2 million in the same period last year, buoyed by a surge in investment income.
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Investors appear to be reacting positively to this strategic shift. DEAP Capital’s share price has soared this year, closing at an all-time high of N7 on Thursday.
The company’s shares have returned about 268% since January, ranking third on the Nigerian Exchange in terms of year-to-date performance.
The company said its focus on critical mineral financing will begin to deliver significant returns within 12 to 24 months as it deploys capital and advances projects along the mineral value chain.
“The possibilities are huge,” Rutten said. “Africa is a very rich continent in terms of resources, but a very poor continent in terms of real money.”
