By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake on behalf of the Nigerian Government on Tuesday in London at the Mines & Money Conference sought the engagement of foreign mining investors to Nigeria with lower production cost of doing business in Nigeria.
Alake had wooed the global stakeholders in the mining industry to invest more in Nigeria as he highlighted the some of the of doing business as lower production cost due to surface mining and billions of dollar untapped minerals.
He quoted recent reports by audit firm KPMG which reported that mining’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP rose from 0.3 percent to 0.85 percent last year, indicating 0.63 percent year on year growth.
Alake said, “The country’s geological bounty encompasses over 44 distinct mineral types, found in exploitable quantities across more than 500 locations. Recently, recognizing the evolving global landscape and in response to emerging trends, Lithium has been included as a crucial strategic mineral of global consequence.”
The minister disclosed that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has embarked on reforms to boost investment by streamlining procedures and reducing hurdles to attract foreign investors.
Speaking on the progress for solid minerals development, Alake stated that fresh data revealed by the Airborne Geophysical Survey, memorandum of understanding with German firm Geoscan has gather more data on solid minerals across the country and access to finance through a new funding facility launched by the Africa Finance Corporation and the Solid Minerals Development Fund.
The minister reminded the global mining community of the Federal Government ‘s policies on how mining operations must benefit the communities and lead to processing instead of wholesale export of raw minerals.
“ Nigeria is currently emphasizing Solid Minerals Beneficiation and Value-Addition as a panacea for quick and sustainable growth of the Mining Industry, he started.
By adding value to our raw materials, we not only create higher value products but also generate employment opportunities for our teeming youth and increase the sector’s overall profitability and contribution to the nation’s GDP”, he said.
Dr. Alake finally urged investors to support socio-economic development of the communities where they mine to make mining mutually beneficial.
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