Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Professor Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, is set to deliver the 10th edition of The Bullion Lecture, scheduled to hold at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at The Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The lecture, themed “From Resources to Prosperity: How Raw Materials Development, Value Addition and Innovation Can Catalyse Nigeria’s Industrial Renaissance,” will focus on strategies for leveraging Nigeria’s abundant natural resources to drive sustainable industrial growth and economic transformation.
A distinguished natural resource economist and academic leader, Professor Ike-Muonso brings over three decades of experience in raw materials market dynamics, supply chain economics, and research commercialisation. In his current role at the RMRDC, he has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between industry, policy formulation, and academia, with the aim of repositioning Nigeria from a resource-dependent economy to a globally competitive industrial hub.
He is widely recognised as the architect of the proposed 30 per cent Value-Addition Bill, a legislative initiative designed to mandate local processing of raw materials before export. The policy, alongside his advocacy for restricting imports of resources that are abundantly available within the country, is intended to strengthen domestic production capacity, enhance value chains, and promote economic self-reliance.
Prior to his appointment at the RMRDC, Professor Ike-Muonso served as Chief Executive Officer of ValueFronteira Limited, a commodities research and data analytics firm. His professional career has included high-level advisory roles and collaborations with several international organisations, including the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), European Commission, ECOWAS, USAID, DFID, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has also maintained strong academic affiliations with institutions such as Lagos Business School and Edinburgh Business School.
In a statement issued in Lagos, Dr. Ray Echebiri, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Financial Journalism, organisers of the lecture, disclosed that the event will be chaired by Otunba Kelvin Dele Oye, Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics and former President of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA).
He further noted that the lecture will feature a panel session where the keynote presentation will be reviewed and discussed by notable industry stakeholders, including HRH Jacob Esan, Chief Executive Officer of Geo Fluids Plc, and Mr. Christian Udechukwu, Commissioner for Industrial Development in Anambra State.
The event will also include the unveiling of a book titled “Pathways to Nigeria’s Socio-Economic Transformation,” edited by Dr. Echebiri. The publication is a compilation of lecture texts delivered at The Bullion Lecture series from 2016 to 2026.
A wide array of participants is expected at the event, including senior government officials, industry leaders, academics, financial sector executives, stakeholders from the energy, manufacturing, maritime, and ICT sectors, members of the diplomatic community, representatives of multilateral institutions, media professionals, and the general public.
