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Nigeria to set up solid minerals corporation, mining police

Published

1 year ago

September 4, 2023

Nigeria’s minister of mineral resources, Dele Alake has revealed that the country plans to set up a solid minerals corporation as part of an attempt to help attract investments into the extraction industry.

The state-backed company would facilitate the exploration of gold, coal, iron ore, bitumen, lead, limestone and baryte, Alake said on Sunday.

“The proposed corporation will seek and secure partnership investment agreements with big multinational companies worldwide to leverage on the attractive investment-friendly regime operating in the country to secure massive foreign direct investment for the mining sector,” Alake said in a statement.

Alake did not specify when the new corporation would be established. Nigeria is well-endowed with a wide range of natural resources, including marble, barites, gypsum, different stones, and precious metals. The majority of these have not yet been exploited.

He, however, revealed that a mines policing framework would be incorporated to begin operation in October to identify illicit mining while existing ventures like the National Iron-Ore Corporation and the Bitumen Concessioning Programme would be assessed to fit into the new firm.

According to Alake, the new business would work with regional financial institutions to encourage investment. These institutions have hitherto avoided the mining industry due to a protracted project gestation period.

Nigeria’s mineral production was reported at 121,204,122.000 metric tons in Dec 2021. The contribution of the mining sector has steadily declined from 5.6 per cent in 1980 to about less than 1 per cent. Despite being larger than the GDP contribution recorded in Q3 of 2021, i.e., 0.2%, the Nigerian mining sector only made a measly 0.3% contribution to Nigeria’s GDP in Q3 of 2022.

In contrast, the mining industry makes a far larger contribution to the national economy in nations like Botswana, Ghana, and South Africa, at 16%, 12.6%, and 7.3%, respectively.

Related Topics:Featured Mineral resources Nigeria

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

7 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.