The Federal Government is seeking the collaboration of stakeholders in the mining sector to generate more revenue from the country’s solid mineral deposits.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, informed a delegation from the Mining Association of Nigeria, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Infrastructure Partnership African Development that the Federal Government was ready to work with operators in the mining sector.
According to the minister, the Federal Government is seeking a bigger contribution from mining to the country’s revenue and Gross Domestic Product.
The minister said, “A strong partnership between the stakeholders and the ministry will promote sustainable mining practices that will take the nation to greater heights.”
He said that the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development would take concrete steps to address issues affecting the industry.
Also speaking at the meeting, Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Dr Uche Ogah, said that there was an urgent need to ‘de-risk the mining industry’.
Ogah said the ministry would provide an enabling environment that would enhance investment in the sector.
President of the Mining Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Kabir Kankari, identified some issues hampering the development of the mining sector.
According to him, the challenges comprise absence of a functional risk mechanism; disputes and other problems with mining communities; illegal mining operations; unlawful interference by states and local governments and lack of geological information to attract more foreign and local investors.
Kankari urged the Federal Government to quickly address the problems.
Representatives of the PWC and IPAD, Messrs Cyril Azoba and Kudakwasha Tsingano, briefed the ministers on the forthcoming Mining Week, which will take place in October.
In a related development, the Federal Government has said it will pursue basic reforms that would boost the mining sector.