KEY POINTS
- Nigeria and Murdoch University reaffirmed plans to deepen mining knowledge transfer and capacity building, meeting at the Africa Down Under conference.
- Their joint program has trained two cohorts of 11 officials each since June 2025, blending technical, policy and leadership learning with field exposure.
- A planned third phase would add stronger industry immersion, internships and live case studies to develop investor-ready mining opportunities.
Nigeria and Murdoch University in Western Australia have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening knowledge transfer and professional capacity building in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.
The pledge followed talks on the sidelines of the Africa Down Under conference. Specifically, Nigeria’s delegation, led by Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake and represented by Mining Cadastre Office Director-General Obadiah Nkom, met university management under Dean Dee O’Connor. Moreover, the discussions targeted the next phase of the Nigeria-Australia Resource Industry Collaboration and Capacity Building Program.
Building on two cohorts
The program has already trained officials. Specifically, since its launch in June 2025, it has run two cohorts of 11 Nigerian officials each, pairing technical, policy and leadership learning with field visits, industry engagement, job shadowing and workshops. Consequently, participants gained exposure to Australia’s resources governance and mining ecosystem.
Now the partners want to go further. According to the ministry, the talks focused on consolidating those gains and building an expanded third phase with stronger industry exposure. Furthermore, that phase would offer longer practical engagement and sharpen the focus on preparing professionals to identify, develop and present commercially viable opportunities.
Knowledge transfer at the core
However, officials framed the effort as more than training. According to Alake, knowledge transfer remains central to Nigeria’s mining reform agenda, since sustainable transformation requires the human capacity to absorb and apply global best practice. Therefore, he said the aim is not just to attract capital and technology, but to ensure Nigerians can deploy and advance those capabilities themselves.
The planned third cohort reflects that goal. Additionally, Alake said it would add stronger industry immersion, internships and job shadowing, plus live case studies and training to develop investor-ready mining opportunities. Ultimately, he said the phase seeks to build a new cadre of Nigerian professionals equipped for exploration, project development, investment promotion, ESG compliance and downstream value addition.
