On Thursday, President Bola Tinubu spoke on Nigeria’s abundant lithium reserves, stating their potential to fuel Europe and the world’s clean energy transition.

He also revealed that Nigeria’s sizable youthful population of 200 million as a lucrative market for Dutch investors, proposing a collaborative effort between the two nations to address irregular migration.

“There is a tremendous opportunity between us across trade spheres but especially in solid minerals, where we have high-grade lithium deposits that we know can power the clean energy future of the world.”

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, explained that Tinubu stated the above when he met Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands at his official residence, The Catshuis, in The Hague.

The President said Nigeria offers immense opportunities across several sectors and that his administration is deepening reforms to enhance the investment climate.

Therefore, the country seeks robust, balanced and mutually beneficial partnerships to add value in areas such as solid minerals.

“There is excellent value-additive opportunity in Nigeria. The world knows us for oil. They will soon know us for greater innovative exploits in other areas,” Tinubu said.

He told Rutte that Nigeria is blessed with an “extremely dynamic youth population” as 70 per cent of her people are under 30.”

More so, its “200 million plus citizens…represents both a massive workforce and a massive market for Dutch and other international investors,” the President affirmed.

Tinubu also noted that such demographic advantage can transform into an incredible talent pool that need not leave the shores of their country to attain success.

He proposed, “If our young people know they can achieve a promising future in Nigeria, they will stay home and build our nation to greatness.

“Lawful migration of trained Nigerian minds and hands will benefit Europe, and irregular migration will no longer be a source of fear in Europe if we partner effectively. This is what we want.”

The President said this explains why his administration is “adamant” about providing student loans and new credit opportunities to not only enhance the skills of Nigerians but also to ensure they can access a higher quality of life within their legitimate incomes.

“We will transform our economy, and our young people will be the reason why,” Tinubu stated.

He also revealed that Nigerians have tremendous confidence in themselves and that his confidence in the Nigerian people gave him the courage to make difficult decisions on their behalf, given his full awareness of the need to provide Nigerians with the long-term tools they need to succeed.

Tinubu said, “I am a determined leader of my people. I have and will continue making difficult decisions that benefit our people, even if there is short-term pain. We have gone through the worst of the storms.

“I am unafraid of the consequences once I know that my actions are in the best long-term interests of all Nigerians. The Nigerian Naira is one of the world’s best-performing currencies today.

“We took the necessary risk, and all resilient Nigerians kept faith with us. They will be rewarded, and the reward will only be greater as we partner effectively with you on new development opportunities. As leaders, we must make decisions for the benefit of our nations, and we cannot shy away from that.”

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands revealed that President Tinubu’s economic reforms have engendered greater confidence in the Nigerian economy by international investors.

According to Rutte, Dutch investors have activated another set of $250m worth of new investments over the next few months, including a $100m investment in a waste-to-wealth industrial facility in Lagos State.

He told Tinubu, “You are promoting democratic governance and the solutions it can bring in dealing with problems of development.

“I saw how you went through democratic channels to remove an incumbent president in 2015 in partnership with President Buhari and how that has led to development in your country. I saw you make the courageous decision to deal with fuel subsidies and other reforms, and we are interested in what allowed you to make the decisions that many before you could not take.

“And you took those decisions early in your term. It shows rare determination. And your stand in ECOWAS, all of these point to your commitment to leadership.”

President Tinubu further expressed firm commitment to grow the developmental partnership between the European Union and Nigeria.

Rather than one-sided relationships where bilateral trade is skewed to one direction, he reasoned that symbiotic economic ties remain the best long-term path to sustainable and mutual prosperity.

The Netherlands is Nigeria’s biggest export trading partners in 2023. It ranked the highest among Nigeria’s export destinations with N1.9bn worth of goods representing 15 per cent of the total N12.7bn for the fiscal year.

Since the signing of the Bilateral Investment Treaty between Nigeria and the Netherlands in 1992, areas of economic cooperation include agriculture, IT, healthcare and renewable energy.