The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (FMMSD), as well as other stakeholders, have agreed to collaboratively promote alternative means of raising capital for the non-oil sector.
The alternative means include non-interest products, tokenisation of assets, as well as adoption of innovative technologies.
The partners disclosed this in a communique issued at the end of a two-day workshop on financing the Nigerian solid minerals sector through the capital market and the critical role of commodities exchanges.
The workshop also emphasised the need for the FMMSD and Federal Ministry of Education to re-prioritise the focus on STEM education at basic, secondary and tertiary institutions.
The communique read in part, “There is a need for the capital market community to ensure that the market infrastructure that supports the bringing to market of mining ventures is in place, while also protecting investors.
“All stakeholders should be involved in promoting sustainable practices and ESG standards within the mining industry, while the FMMSD is to ensure the availability of geoscience data, given that it is essential alongside relevant market data in enabling intermediaries and commodities exchanges to structure products for the mining industry.”
The participants also agreed that the FMMSD should collaborate with SEC and other stakeholders to develop capacity in the industry and address the issue of interference in mining activities by state governments.
They identified this as a major challenge faced by mining companies, adding that the FMMSD was to take concrete steps to resolve the conflict in state and federal laws, as well as overlapping oversight.
