Africa: Nigerian Govt, Africa Finance Corporation Partner to Gather Data, Process Minerals

5 October 2023
Premium Times (Abuja)
press release

Mr Alake explained that every effort being made through policies and programmes to make Nigeria a destination for solid minerals development will be futile if the nation doesn't improve on data gathering.

In furtherance of its commitment to reposition and sanitise the solid minerals sector of the economy, the federal government through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development will partner with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) in data gathering to de-risk investment in the mining sector.

Nigeria's Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, made this known during the visit by the President/CEO Africa Finance Corporation, Samaila Zubairu.

Riding on the existing robust partnership between the AFC and Solid Minerals Development Fund ( SMDF-an agency of the Ministry), Mr Alake said: "The Ministry will consolidate on this partnership to develop the necessary data needed to advance the $700bn value under the ground under the big data strategy."

Elaborating further, the minister explained that every effort being made through policies and programmes to make Nigeria a destination for solid minerals development would be futile if the nation didn't improve on data gathering.

"We will invest heavily in data generation, concise and precise data generation that will enable investors to make informed decisions," Mr Alake enthused.

The minister used the opportunity of the visit to hint at initiatives by the SMDF and the AFC to catalyse the development of the mineral sector under their partnership.

He said "These initiatives directly support Mr President's Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly in foreign direct investment, job creation and increased fiscal revenues. The agreement is a critical win under the recently announced Transformation Agenda as it directly supports establishing processing centres to focus on value-added products ".

While acknowledging the growing partnership between the Africa Finance Corporation and Solid Minerals Development Fund aimed at identifying and supporting development-stage mining projects in Nigeria, Mr Alake said the visit of the CEO of AFC signposts how critical the mining sector is to Nigeria's economic growth and prosperity.

Speaking earlier, Mr Zubairu stated that the quantum and value of Nigeria's solid minerals have made it imperative to develop a framework of partnering with the Ministry to grow the sector for rapid economic development of the country.

Furthermore, the AFC president pledged the corporation's support for the BIG Data project, value-added processing centres, curbing insecurity and support for local mining companies.

Alaba Balogun

Head, Press & Public Relations

05 October 2023

Read the original article on Premium Times.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 Premium Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.