Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi is convinced that the solid minerals industry is the country’s next frontier of opportunity for development, a position supported by the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
Fayemi reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to utilize Nigeria’s industrial mineral endowment to drive industrialisation. He identified the country’s most promising mineral assets to include gold, iron ore, barite, bitumen, lead, zinc, tin and coal.
“We have good reason to believe that the available data of our reserves understates what our country has been blessed with by providence in many instances. For one thing, some of the geosciences data collected 50 years ago or earlier have not been updated. So we are cautiously optimistic that our mineral endowments actually exceed what is currently stated,” he said.
The minister noted that Nigeria’s solid minerals sector has pointlessly been operating well below capacity. With many mining operations manned by small scale artisanal miners, as opposed to the large scale actors.
He added that Nigeria can “generate at least N5 trillion annually from mining and exporting of its vast solid mineral deposits, with several multiplier effects on job creation, state development and social infrastructure that could position the solid minerals sector as the main catalyst for national development.”
Interestingly, solid minerals account for about nine percent of South Africa’s GDP, while mineral revenues are projected to account for 34.4% of Botswana’s total revenue in 2015/2016, and about 30% of GDP.
Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, Sola David-Borha stated that it was in recognition of this huge potential that Stanbic IBTC organized the session.
Also the session was held in order to jump-start sustained interface between the private sector and government with a view to developing a robust mining sector through the public private partnership model.
