A new report has shown that the investors backing the $250 million lithium project recently launched in Nasarawa State are copycats and not affiliated with the China-based companies bearing the same name.
This was contained in a report by Bloomberg, released on Friday.
According to the report, Ganfeng Lithium Industry Ltd., Tianqi Lithium Industrial Ltd. and Ningde Era Industrial Ltd. have nothing to do with three nearly identically named behemoths listed on the Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock exchanges.
The companies, findings showed, were founded recently and registered in Nigeria as independent companies.
According to Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) records as of Friday, October 27, the companies identified as copycats by Bloomberg were registered almost around the same time in 2022, bearing the same name as mining giants in China:
The Nigerian entity, Ganfeng Lithium Industry, was registered on September 13, 2022, with an address listed as High Court Road, Ipegba, Sagamu, Ogun state. The original Ganfeng Lithium Industry was founded in China in the year 2000, is located in Jiangxi Province and is a prominent player in the global lithium industry.
Tianqi Lithium Industrial Limited on the other hand was registered on September 8, 2022, with the same address as Ganfeng Lithium Industry in Sagamu, Ogun state, while the original Tianqi Lithium Industrial Limited, established in 2000, operates in Southwest China, specifically in Sichuan and is a major player in the global lithium production sector, controlling more than 46 per cent of lithium production worldwide.
Similarly, Ningde Era Industrial Limited, registered on August 24, 2022, with an address in High Court Road, Ipegba, Sagamu, Ogun state, is not associated with the original Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited (tagged Ningde Era), which was founded in 2011 and located in Ningde, Fujian province, China, with significant presence in the global battery and energy storage industry.
A fortnight ago, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu commissioned the construction of a $250 million lithium factory in Nasarawa State.
Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Dele Alake, who represented the president, said it was in line with the administration’s industrialisation policy.
Known as the Ganfeng Lithium Industry Limited factory, the company is to be situated in Endo community of Udege Development Area in Nasarawa Local Government Area.
At completion, the factory is expected to process18,000 metric tons of lithium each day, contributing to an annual output of 4.5 million metric tons.
