Position Nigeria as a Responsible Supplier of Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition

The energy transition is creating unprecedented global demand for lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, and rare earth elements. Nigeria's geology contains significant deposits of several of these minerals, but the country has historically exported raw ore at commodity prices rather than processed materials at premium prices. The African Union's Critical Raw Materials initiative aims to change this. The question is what a specific, actionable Nigerian strategy looks like. Your challenge is to design a strategy for Nigeria to participate in the global EV battery supply chain for one critical mineral (lithium, graphite, or rare earths) at a processing level — not raw ore export. The strategy must address the investment required, the technical processing pathway, the regulatory and environmental requirements, the market linkage to battery manufacturers, and the governance model that ensures community and government benefit. Submit a strategy document (max 15 pages) including: the chosen mineral and deposit overview, processing technology and investment cost, market linkage strategy with battery manufacturers, regulatory and environmental compliance design, revenue model showing benefit to communities and government, and a 5-year development roadmap. Judging criteria: 35% strategic credibility and market linkage, 30% processing technology and investment design, 20% governance and community benefit model, 15% development roadmap.