NIGERIA SET TO COMMISSION $250M LITHIUM PLANT IN NASARAWA

(Business Africa) – Nigeria is poised to become a major player in the global lithium market, as it prepares to open its first processing plant in Nasarawa state in early 2024.

The plant, which has a daily capacity of 3,000 metric tons, is a joint venture between the Nigerian government and Ganfeng Lithium Industry Ltd., a Chinese company that is one of the world’s largest producers of lithium products.

The project, which was launched by President @officialABAT in October 2023, is part of his administration’s efforts to diversify the economy away from oil and gas, and to add value to the country’s abundant mineral resources.

Lithium is a key ingredient for batteries and electric vehicles, which are in high demand as the world shifts to cleaner and renewable energy sources. Nigeria has an estimated 3 billion tons of lithium reserves, according to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, making it one of the richest countries in Africa in terms of the mineral.

The Nasarawa plant is expected to create thousands of jobs and boost the country’s gross domestic product by about 0.5%, according to the ministry. It will also help Nigeria to tap into the global lithium market, which is projected to grow from $43.5 billion in 2020 to $76.6 billion by 2027, according to Research and Markets.

THE MOST POWERFUL PASSPORTS IN THE WORLD 2024

A powerful passport is one that grants visa-free access to many countries around the world. According to the Henley Passport Index which uses data from the International Air Transport Association to rank passports by how many countries they allow the holder to visit without a visa.

Here are the top 10 rankings for the most powerful passports in 2024, and the number of other countries these passport holders can visit, without having to obtain a visa in advance. 1. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain (194 destinations) 2. Finland, South Korea, Sweden (193 destinations) 3. Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands (192 destinations) 4. Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom (191 destinations) 5. Greece, Malta, Switzerland (190 destinations) 6. Australia, Czechia, New Zealand, Poland (189 destinations) 7. Canada, Hungary, United States (188 destinations) 8. Estonia, Lithuania (187 destinations) 9. Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (186 destinations) 10. Iceland (185 destinations)

As well as ranking passport power, Henley & Partners’ report also looks at the relationship between global mobility and economic prosperity. By analyzing trade blocs as well as individual passports, a picture emerges of the most powerful and wealthy parts of the world, and how their citizens enjoy greater levels of access to other countries. The G7, for instance, which comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, has a 44% share of global GDP. The G7 scores 100% for internal access, meaning citizens of those seven countries can visit all others in the bloc visa-free. It has an 85% score on the overall passport index, indicating the level of worldwide visa-free access those nationalities enjoy, but only a 39% score for openness – the number of other nationalities that can visit G7 countries visa-free. By contrast, the African Union, with a 3% share of GDP, has a 28% score on the overall passport index, but conversely, a higher level of openness at 49%. “African mobility is headed for a crossroads in 2024, with the possibility of a drastic improvement in intracontinental travel, passport power, and passport openness,” said author and journalist Justice Malala, in an analysis of the status of travel and tourism in Africa. His comments came after Kenya decided to ditch visas from January 2024, with the aim of encouraging more tourists.