The Ondo State Government has signed a $362m agreement with PyVee Limited to establish a titanium processing plant in Ilaje Local Government Area, as the state seeks to attract investment, create jobs and boost industrialisation.
The government signed the agreement on Friday at the Office of the Secretary to the State Government in Akure, the state capital, under a public-private partnership arrangement.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PyVee Limited, Dr Peter Oladipupo, said the project would establish West Africa’s first fully integrated titanium value-chain processing plant and Africa’s second.
The Ondo State Development and Investment Promotion Agency facilitated the agreement, which the company said would strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global critical minerals market.
Under the agreement, the state government allocated 100.079 hectares of land at Alape, along the Igbokoda–Ugbonla Road in Ilaje, for the proposed facility.
PyVee said the location offers access to lagoon water, gas infrastructure for power generation and proximity to the proposed deep-sea port and export logistics along the Lagos–Calabar coastal corridor.
The partners will execute the project through a joint-venture company, PyVee Nigeria Titanium Limited, with a projected investment of $362m across two phases.
The first phase will involve constructing a commercial pilot plant, while the second will focus on developing a full-scale titanium processing complex.
According to the project details, the pilot plant will require about $12m, with commercial operations expected to begin approximately 21 months after the agreement.
The company projected that the two phases would generate more than N300bn in annual gross economic value for Ondo State and over N480bn nationally.
Oladipupo described the agreement as a major step towards implementing the project, saying the company aimed to expand Africa’s mineral-processing capacity and ensure the continent captures more value from its natural resources.
“This agreement marks an important step in moving our titanium-processing project from development toward implementation,” he said.
He added that PyVee planned to develop industrial partnerships that would connect African critical-mineral supply chains to international markets.
Speaking on behalf of the state government, the Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Dr Taiwo Fasoranti, said the deal aligned with Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s industrialisation agenda.
Fasoranti said the administration wanted to ensure that the state’s mineral resources generated local jobs, facilitated technology transfer and delivered sustainable revenue instead of leaving the state as raw materials.
“This is exactly the kind of partnership our administration has been working toward, one where Ondo State’s resources stay home long enough to create value, jobs, and lasting revenue for our people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ondo State Development and Investment Promotion Agency, Emmanuel Omomowo, said the agency helped structure the transaction and assess PyVee’s technical and financial capacity.
He explained that the partners adopted an equity-for-land arrangement, which would give the state an ownership stake in the joint-venture company rather than a one-off cash payment for the land.
The arrangement is expected to give Ondo State a direct stake in the project, although the statement did not disclose the size of the state’s proposed equity holding.
