The Nigerian government has concluded plans to set up the Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation, (a state-backed company) to assist in attracting investments into the extraction of gold, coal, iron ore, bitumen, lead, limestone and baryte, according to Dele Alake, the Solid Minerals minister on Sunday.
The federal government has plans to make mining play a much larger role in its economy by increasing its mineral extraction sector to branch out and away from its overreliance on oil exploration.
Alake had, however, not given a definite timeframe for when the new company would be launched.
The Minister had said that existing enterprises in the country: the National Iron-Ore Company and the Bitumen Concessioning Programme will be evaluated to fit into the new company while a mines police authority will be active as from October 2023 to clock illegal mining.
This move is in line with one of President Bola Tinubu’s boldest reforms in years, in an attempt to improve Nigeria’s investment climate and attract a lot more foreign investors to the biggest economy in Africa.
This new corporation will recruit local financial institutions, which have been reluctant to take part in the mining sector in the past due to the long development period for projects, to promote investment, according to Alake.
