Overview#
Kano is the largest industrial agglomeration in northern Nigeria by employment — its resource economy rests on three legs: agriculture (groundnut, the Kano Groundnut Pyramids of the 1950s-1970s; cotton; tomato; sesame; chilli), industrial minerals (cassiterite, columbite, tantalite, gold in the southern LGAs), and the historic tanning + textile cluster centred on the Kofar Wambai dye-pits and Bompai industrial estate.
Geology & Deposits#
Tin, columbite, tantalite. Southern Kano LGAs (Tudun Wada, Doguwa, Sumaila) — the eastern extension of the older basement Sn-Ta-Nb province. Gold. Tsanyawa, Doguwa, Karaye — small but continuous artisanal workings. Glass-sand. Bichi, Karaye. Kaolin, laterite, gypsum, salt. Various; small. Hydrocarbons. None. Agricultural produce. Groundnut, cotton, tomato (the Dangote Tomato Paste Plant, Kura, 1,200 tpd capacity, intermittent operation), sesame, hibiscus (Sudan-export grade), wheat, rice, chilli.
Operators & Output#
- Dangote Tomato Paste Kura (commissioned 2016, off-and-on production). - WACOT Rice (Argungu/Kano), Olam, Stallion — agro-processors. - Bompai industrial estate (textiles, tanneries) — much of the historic cluster (United Nigeria Textiles, etc.) is closed; the tanneries that survived export sheepskin to Italy and Spain. - Small artisanal Sn-Ta operators across Doguwa-Tudun Wada-Sumaila.
Host-Community & Revenue#
No derivation. The state's IGR is the highest of any non-oil northern state. The decline of the Bompai textile cluster (1980s onward) and the collapse of groundnut exports (after the 1970s rosette virus and oil-boom Dutch-disease) are the foundational losses.
Current Status#
Producing: tomato (intermittent), sesame, hibiscus, leather, rice; artisanal Sn-Ta and gold in the south. Dormant at scale: textile mills (United Nigeria Textiles, Bagauda Textiles), groundnut pyramids.
References
Sources#
- Dangote Tomato Paste Kura plant disclosures.
- Kano State Investment Promotion Agency.
- Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office.