Deap Capital Transforms into Critical Minerals Financing Corp, Targets Africa’s Mining Finance Sector
A major shift in Nigeria’s financial and mining investment landscape has been completed following the formal transformation of Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc into Critical Minerals Financing Corp Plc (CMFC), signalling a decisive pivot toward mining, metals, and commodities-focused financing.
The transition, which has now been fully concluded after receiving all required regulatory approvals and filings, positions the company as a specialised investment and advisory institution targeting opportunities across Africa’s critical minerals value chain. The move also reflects a broader ambition to anchor itself within Nigeria’s evolving industrial and extractive sectors.
In addition to the rebranding, the company confirmed in a regulatory disclosure to the Nigerian Exchange that it has moved its corporate headquarters to Victoria Island, Lagos, further aligning itself with the country’s premier financial district.
A Strategic Shift Toward Mining and Commodities Finance
Explaining the rationale behind the transformation, Chairman of Critical Minerals Financing Corp Plc, Lamon Rutten, described the development as a defining moment in the company’s evolution, with a sharpened focus on structured finance and advisory services for the mining sector.
According to him, the company is positioning itself to fill long-standing financing gaps in Africa’s minerals ecosystem while offering integrated solutions across capital structuring, investment banking, and project development support.
He stated:
“We are strategically positioned to deliver world-class capital structuring, advisory, and financing solutions to mining and metals companies operating across gold, copper, cobalt, lithium, tungsten, tin, tantalum, and other critical mineral sectors,” Rutten, a founding Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Mining Exchange and Mumbai Commodity Exchange, said.
Rutten emphasized that CMFC’s strategy is built around bridging structural funding deficits in Africa’s extractive industries by combining global financial expertise with sector-specific technical understanding and strategic partnerships.
Building a Pan-African Mining Finance Ecosystem
President and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Israel Ovirih, said the company is currently reinforcing its governance, operational systems, and financial structures in preparation for its next phase of expansion.
He explained that CMFC intends to leverage cross-border partnerships, institutional investment flows, and participation in large-scale commodities transactions to unlock long-term value across African markets.
Ovirih added that collaboration will be central to its model:
“The company will work closely with mining companies, commodity traders, institutional investors, development finance institutions, governments and international partners to build a dynamic ecosystem that supports industrial development, beneficiation and export growth.”
He further noted that Africa’s mineral wealth places it in a strong position to benefit from accelerating global demand for energy transition materials, particularly in battery manufacturing, renewable energy systems, and advanced industrial production.
“CMFC believes Africa is uniquely positioned to become a leading supplier of strategic mineral resources to the world,” he said.
Shareholder Backing and Capital Injection Drive Transformation
The rebranding and strategic overhaul trace back to shareholder approval earlier in March 2026, when stakeholders of DEAPCAP unanimously endorsed the company’s transition at its annual general meeting in Ikeja, Lagos.
At that meeting, shareholders approved a wide-ranging resolution package that included a name change, corporate restructuring, global capital raising plans, and authorization for strategic alliances intended to reposition the company within Africa’s mining finance sector.
As part of the recapitalisation effort, Banklink Africa Private Equities Limited—now a core investor in CMFC—has injected approximately N6 billion into the company to support its repositioning and growth strategy.
The firm has also attracted interest from high-net-worth investors across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Europe, with additional investment pipelines reportedly under exploration.
Expanding Across the Minerals Value Chain
Looking ahead, CMFC says its investment strategy will span the full mining lifecycle, from exploration to global commodities trade, with a focus on creating integrated value systems across African markets.
Rutten outlined the company’s operational roadmap, explaining that its activities will cut across upstream exploration, midstream processing, and downstream trading and logistics.
He said:
“CMFC would invest in portfolio companies across the entire minerals value chain. In the upstream segment, we will be active in exploration funding, pre-feasibility studies, feasibility studies, mine development and expansion, mechanisation and fleet financing.”
“In the midstream, CMFC will connect funding to refining and smelting businesses, beneficiation plants, processing infrastructure, concentrate and intermediate product manufacturing. At the end, we will complete the cycle with bespoke financing solutions to downstream operators such as commodity trading, long-term offtake partnerships, metal storage and logistics and resource-backed financing instruments. So, you have a whole gamut of valorisation of the minerals sector, with profound multiplier effects across the country.”
Africa’s Untapped Mineral Wealth and Growth Potential
The company also highlighted the broader continental opportunity, pointing out that despite Africa holding more than 30 per cent of global mineral reserves, much of this potential remains underdeveloped due to financing constraints and limited infrastructure.
According to CMFC leadership, growing global demand for critical minerals presents a unique opportunity for African economies to accelerate industrialisation, deepen export capacity, and build sustainable value chains—if adequate capital and technical expertise are deployed effectively.
With its new identity, expanded capital base, and international investor backing, CMFC says it intends to position Nigeria as a launching point for a wider continental strategy aimed at transforming how Africa’s mineral wealth is financed, developed, and monetised.