By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – The Africans for Africa, AFA, Initiative and Steron International Resources Limited, Steron, Thursday, officially signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, to accelerate the development of critical minerals in Nigeria.

The agreement was signed on the main stage of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit, AFNIS, in Abuja, and was witnessed by key officials.

This partnership marks a significant milestone for the Nigerian mining sector, officially designating Steron’s Lithium and Rare Earth Elements (REE) project in Wasa as a potential “Official AFA Mining Fund I Pipeline Project.”

Under this framework, Steron will receive dedicated capital support and specialized technical optimization, ensuring the project aligns with the highest international standards for bankability and sustainable mining.

A Commitment to “Total African Benefit”; A cornerstone of this collaboration is the integration of AFA’s 51% Total African Benefit (TAB) Model. This impact-metric framework ensures that a minimum of 51% of the aggregate economic and commercial value generated by the Wasa project is retained within the continent through localized processing, domestic supply chain integration, and direct investment into host-community infrastructure.

The Co-founder of the AFA Initiative, Suleiman Zakari, said, “Two years ago, we launched the AFA Initiative on this very stage with a vision to institutionalize African mineral wealth.

“Today, with the AFA Mining Fund institutionalised and nearing its first close, this partnership with Steron demonstrates that our strategy is moving from vision to tangible and high-impact reality.”

Meanwhile, the MoU is to bridge innovation and extraction. It was made known that the agreement follows weeks of discussions and recent site visit to the project by senior AFA officials on the sidelines of AFNIS 2026.