Nigeria’s Critical Minerals Sector and International Legal Limits of Local Content Design

Abstract

Nigeria is resourcefully blessed with critical minerals, and their economic importance has skyrocketed due to the global energy transition. Nigerian policymakers have looked to the NCDMB's oil and gas model for inspiration, but no equivalent statutory framework yet governs local content in mining. Yet these measures operate within binding international constraints. The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) and Nigeria's bilateral investment treaties, particularly their fair and equitable treatment clauses, limit how localisation may be pursued without exposing the state to dispute settlement. This article asks how Nigeria can structure local content measures in its critical minerals sector to advance domestic participation while remaining consistent with international trade and investment law. It argues that treaty exposure is primarily a function of legal design rather than policy intent. States pursuing localisation through legally vulnerable instruments invite disputes, while those embedding participation obligations within coherent regulatory frameworks achieve more durable outcomes. Using Chile's lithium governance as a case study, the article demonstrates that legal design significantly influences durability. It recommends a legal framework built around four principles: strategic mineral classification, measurability, phased capacity-linked obligations, and legal embedding within domestic law.