In a major boost to Nigeria’s energy transition and industrial development, Swiber Africa (Nigeria) Group and GCL (China) Group have signed a far-reaching New Energy Industry Framework Cooperation Agreement aimed at transforming Africa’s power sector and lithium battery value chain.
The agreement was signed on January 25 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, by Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Chairman of Swiber Africa (Nigeria) Group, and Mr. Zhu Gongshan, Chairman of GCL Group, marking a significant milestone in deepening China–Nigeria economic and energy cooperation.
Under the pact, both parties will engage in extensive collaboration covering new-generation energy system development, strategic lithium resource exploitation, and integrated industrial chain cooperation.
Describing the agreement as a strategic breakthrough, the parties said the partnership represents “an important outcome of strengthened practical cooperation between China and Nigeria,” while also aligning with GCL’s Belt and Road Initiative and broader international expansion strategy.
Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies, continues to grapple with chronic power shortages and a fragile electricity grid, challenges that have constrained industrial growth and living standards. Addressing these concerns, GCL said it is deploying its over 20 years of integrated oil, gas and green energy experience across African countries such as Ethiopia and Djibouti to support Nigeria’s energy transformation.
“This cooperation is designed to address Nigeria’s urgent power and resource challenges through the development of a new-generation power system and a complete lithium battery industry chain,” the companies stated.
On power infrastructure, GCL will deploy internationally advanced, high-efficiency clean power technologies alongside scenario-based system solutions. Central to the plan is a full-time-scale virtual power plant system, already proven in the China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park, which delivers up to 94 per cent load regulation accuracy.
The system is expected to provide Nigeria with intelligent energy management, ranging from millisecond-level rapid response to medium- and long-term demand forecasting. The projects will be aligned with Nigeria’s Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) and include the development of 3 gigawatts of gas-fired power plants, 4 gigawatts of integrated wind and solar projects, as well as hydropower and coal-fired stations. Grid upgrade projects will run concurrently to establish a highly coordinated generation–transmission–distribution–consumption network.
“This will drive Nigeria’s power system from manual operations to intelligent control,” the partners said.
Beyond electricity, the agreement places strong emphasis on lithium resource development, amid surging global demand for lithium batteries. While Nigeria is endowed with significant lithium deposits, the sector has largely been limited to low-value raw ore extraction.
“Lithium has become a strategic resource shaping the future of energy, yet Nigeria has not fully realized its value due to limited processing capacity,” the statement noted.
In line with Nigeria’s policy to expand local lithium processing from 2026, GCL said it would introduce advanced mining and smelting technologies, with both parties planning to jointly develop a lithium carbonate smelting facility in Abia State. The project will establish a closed-loop lithium value chain covering resource security, production, operations and global exports.
The model mirrors GCL’s successful natural gas value-chain development in Ethiopia and will also strengthen the company’s global materials supply network. As a major global producer of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) materials, with facilities in Renshou and Leshan, Sichuan Province, GCL said access to Nigeria’s lithium resources would ensure stable raw material supply and enable efficient global capacity matching.
The partnership is widely seen as a strategic leap toward positioning Nigeria as a regional hub for clean energy and battery manufacturing, while reinforcing China–Africa cooperation in the emerging global energy economy.
