Stakeholders call for improved funding of the solid minerals sector for economic diversification

Stakeholders in the Nigeria Mining sector have called on the Federal Government to increase funding of the solid minerals sector if Nigeria is to successfully achieve economic diversification and reap from its enormous mineral resource endowments.

This call was made in Abuja at the recently concluded Nigeria Mining Week organised by the Miners Association of Nigeria in partnership with Spintelligent and PwC Nigeria.

While appreciating the N30bn intervention fund for the sector recently announced by the President, mining stakeholders at the three-day conference observed that mining was a long term, high risk and capital intensive venture and a lot had to be done to support operators in the industry and to make the sector more attractive for investors.

At the opening session of the conference which had in attendance the Ministers of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi and the Minister of State, Hon Abubakar Bawa Bwari among other dignitaries, the minister noted that the new Mining Roadmap which is scheduled for public presentation on November 7, 2016  has identified the key challenges hindering the sector from significantly contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and expressed the ministries’ readiness to implement the roadmap in order to change the fortunes of mining in Nigeria.

He said the sector had secured improved funding for the mining sector through increased budgetary allocation and intervention funds from the Natural Resources Development Fund (NRDF) and International Development Partners through the World Bank.

He said that the NRDF fund would be used for the Geosciences data generation, improved minefield security, monitoring enforcement of the provisions of Nigeria Mining Act 2007 and its regulations of 2011. He said that the funds from the International Development Partner would be used to implement Nigeria’s mineral sector to support the economic diversification project and improve on the sector’s GDP contribution.

“The fund will provide assistance to a selection of mineral exploration and mining projects to assist the development of the sector; operators are to exploit this funding opportunity to advance their mining projects. At the ministry of Mines and Steel development, our target is for the ministry to contribute five per cent to the GDP by 2020 as against the current 0.34 per cent and we look forward to working with all of you to achieve this target’’

The Week featured speeches, technical paper presentations, panel discussions, exhibitions and workshops and attracted various stakeholders including large and small scale miners, equipment manufacturers, bankers, investors, law firms, service providers etc with participants drawn from Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Canada, Germany and other significant mining territories of the world. The organisers of the event have stated their commitment to making this an annual event and a major feature of the global mining calendar as government makes good its promise to transform the sector.

Among the recommendations made by participants at the event include the need for the generation of inventory and data on minerals deposits in Nigeria and their properties with a call on the Geological Survey Agency to do a thorough appraisal and investigation on mineral deposit locations and quantities including geophysical mapping in order to attract investment.

There was also emphasis on the need to involve host communities in mining through land ownership and company ownership with royalties from mining operations used for sustainable spending and growth in such communities to avoid the mistake made with oil.

Participants noted the need for investment in infrastructural development and establishment of an intergenerational fund that ensures that even after the mining operations have ended, the community continues to benefit from the proceeds. Such efforts must however be operated under a proper governance structure that ensures transparency.

Commenting on the deliberations of the week, Cyril Azobu, Advisory Partner and Mining sector leader who is also a member of the Advisory board of the Nigeria Mining Week said: “It’s been a very successful forum given the calibre of participants and the quality of discussions that have been held. In addition, the forum has also provided a unique networking opportunity for stakeholders in this sector and you can feel the optimism that we are at the cusp of something big. For us at PwC, we are happy to have been a part of this, a demonstration of our commitment to the development of the sector.

“We do not however expect it to end in just talks. We are committed to, working with the Miners Association and the Ministry, following up on the various recommendations made at this forum and tracking the implementation of the roadmap itself so that when we gather next year, stakeholders can see how far we have gone towards the actualization of our objectives”

The Nigeria Mining Week was brought to a close by the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development Hon Abubakar Bawa Bwari who thanked the organizers of the event for creating such a forum for discussions on how to develop the sector and thanked the participants for their ideas and recommendations. He also expressed the ministry’s commitment to supporting the event annually and invited all to the public presentation of the sector roadmap on 7th November, 2016.