Nigeria, US Set Up Committee On Mining Sector Partnership

igeria and the United States have continued to explore modalities for partnership on mining sector development, with both countries setting up a working group to work out areas of collaboration.

According to the special assistant on media to the minister of solid minerals development, Segun Tomori, the development is a follow-up to last week’s Abuja meeting between the United States Deputy Chief of Mission David Greene and the minister of solid minerals development, Dr. Dele Alake on the sidelines of the on-going Investing in Africa Indaba, Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday.

LEADERSHIP reports that while Dr Alake led the Nigerian government delegation, the US government was led by senior advisor to the US president on energy and infrastructure, Amos Hochstein.

In his speech, Hochstein recalled US’ special relationship with Nigeria, spanning several decades and cutting across diverse sectors and said the United States’ interest in working with Nigeria to unlock investments in the mining ecosystem in the areas of infrastructural development, technical assistance in upscaling mining operations and mining industry investment.

“Let’s figure out a way between us where we can share whatever you have with our team; then we can work with companies to see what makes sense for the United States to do. We will then look at what the infrastructural needs are to unlock and make those investments more attractive. If you want to build a clean mining sector, you can’t do that without electricity. We are already working with your government on clean energy options for us to finance,” the US presidential aide added.

On his part, Minister Alake applauded US’ interest in the mining sector, emphasising that as Nigeria’s long standing ally, a new vista of collaboration for mining development will strengthen bilateral relations and translate to mutual benefits for both countries.

He said: “We are putting in place reforms to ensure that we have an enabling environment in the sector, different from the experiences we had in the past.  I suggest that we form a small joint working group that will fashion out modalities for collaboration and fast-track the flow of information on both sides.”

Speaking on the issue of financing, the executive secretary, the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), Fatima Shinkafi, stated that a certain percentage of oil resources comes to the fund.

She highlighted SMDF’s partnership with African Finance Corporation (AFC) to deploy more resources for the generation of more geo scientific-data that will assist investors in making informed decisions on critical minerals.

“Nigeria through the SMDF has resources to co-invest, so it’s not a situation of coming cap in hand without any commensurate contribution,” he said.

Both countries thereafter nominated members into the working group that will commence deliberations in earnest.

On the US team were acting special coordinator, Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investments, Helaina Matza; Ribhuti Jain, regional managing director (MD), Development Finance Corporation (DFC); Nisha Biswal, deputy CEO, DFC; Lyndsey Mewill, chief of staff to Amos Hochestein, amongst others.

On the Nigerian delegation were the director-general (DG), Mining Cadastral Office (MCO), Engr. Obadiah Nkom; executive secretary, SMDF, Fatima Shinkafi; DG, Nigeria Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), Dr. Abdulrasak Garba; director, Investments Promotion and Mineral Trade (IPMT), Ime Ekrikpo, amongst other top officials of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD).