The Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Mr. Dele Alake has stated that part of the federal government initiative to attract investment to the mining sector is through tax waivers on imported mining equipment into the country.
Mr. Dele Alake shared this while meeting with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Bandar AlKhorayef, on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
He emphasized the importance of establishing partnerships, highlighting that critical minerals abundant in Nigeria play a crucial role in the global energy transition.
He stated the importance of investing in local value addition through the processing of solid minerals, leading to the establishment of factories in Nigeria. This, in turn, would generate employment, creating a ripple effect on the economy.
- According to him, “We need a lot of investments in exploration, exploitation, extraction, processing, and local value addition. We realize that we must look at regions outside of Africa to collaborate, further consolidate, and enhance our capacity to explore and exploit the natural resources that we have.
- “For us to maximally utilize, exploit, and derive maximum revenue for our own economic and infrastructural development, we need to have a very solid partnership with nations like Saudi Arabia”.
Collaboration between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia
He expressed the willingness of the Nigerian team to collaborate with their Saudi Arabian counterparts to refine and strategize initiatives for collaboration within a specific timeframe.
Additionally, he highlighted the imminent implementation of an enhanced security framework to effectively safeguard mining areas in the country.
Mr. Bandar AlKhorayef, his Saudi Arabian counterpart, echoed Nigeria’s stance on the essential need to diversify the economy, with a specific emphasis on the mining sector.
Mr Bandar AlKhorayef said the collaboration was important and that Saudi Arabia would prioritize local value addition.
