By Martha Agas
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has inaugurated the Nigeria-U.S. Committee on Strategic Cooperation within the Solid Minerals Sector.
The inauguration of the committee adopted the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the U.S. on the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
This is contained in a press release issued by Mrs Kania Andeyaba, the Head, Press and Public Relations of the strong minerals to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.
Alake dismissed reviews that Nigeria offered 700 billion {dollars} price of mineral belongings to the United States, explaining that the cooperation framework was designed to facilitate funding and expertise switch, not the switch or sale of Nigeria’s mineral belongings.
He mentioned the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by each nations offered a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American traders and Nigerian mining operators.
According to him, the Nigeria/U.S. partnership is a strategic initiative to draw funding, promote expertise switch, strengthen native mineral processing and create employment alternatives.
He mentioned the partnership was aimed toward repositioning the strong minerals sector to help President Bola Tinubu’s dedication to the financial diversification agenda and decreasing the nation’s dependence on oil.
“The administration of President Tinubu is committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources,” he mentioned.
Nigeria, he mentioned, possesses vital minerals wanted for the vitality transition, making it essential to ascertain partnerships that mix the nation’s pure assets with overseas capital, experience and expertise.
“So we are creating a new paradigm, you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation. The investor gains, Nigeria gains,” he mentioned.
The minister mentioned Nigeria had traditionally relied on oil, whereas strong minerals have been largely extracted and exported with out sufficient native processing or worth addition.
To that finish, he mentioned the Federal Government had made native processing a requirement for mineral growth and traders have been anticipated to point out a transparent plan to course of minerals within the nation earlier than they have been granted mineral licences.
According to him, the coverage has inspired the institution of processing factories together with the lately inaugurated largest lithium processing plant in West Africa positioned in Nasarawa and the institution of the African Minerals Strategy Group.
He attributed renewed investor confidence to the macroeconomic reforms launched by President Tinubu’s administration, saying it offered assurances on safety of tenure and repatriation of earnings.
He urged the committee to discharge its project responsibly, saying its work was strategic to reaching the President’s one trillion {dollars} financial system.
Alake charged the committee to make sure efficient coordination, establish funding alternatives and translate the framework into measurable outcomes able to positioning Nigeria as a aggressive participant within the international strong minerals trade.
In his remarks, Mr Jonathan Baas, the Economic Officer on the U.S. Embassy, mentioned President Donald Trump had prioritised vitality, synthetic intelligence and important minerals as key areas of engagement for American embassies.
Baas mentioned the US was searching for partnerships that may safe vital mineral provide chains whereas enabling associate nations to profit from the worth generated.
The inauguration underscored the Federal Government’s efforts to reposition the strong minerals sector as a driver of financial diversification, industrial growth and nationwide prosperity.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reviews that the settlement is anticipated to make use of the Nigeria and U.S. authorities relationship as a basis to spice up Nigeria’s value-addition-driven worth chain.
The Chairman of the committee is Mr Martins Imonitie, Managing Director of the Nigeria Solid Minerals Corporation and Secretary, Dr Esther Udo – Director, Investment Promotion and Mineral Trade (IPMT) Department.(NAN)
MAA/ YMU
Edited by Yakubu Uba
