By Palma Ileye
In a resolve to strengthen collaboration between Nigeria and the United States on Mining development, both countries have formed a working group to work out modalities of partnership.
This is contained in a press release issued by Segun Tomori, Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development to newsmen in Abuja.
As a follow-up to last week’s Abuja meeting with the United States Deputy Chief of Mission David Greene, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake on Tuesday led a Nigerian Government delegation that met a delegation of the US Government led by Senior Advisor to the US President on Energy and Infrastructure, Amos Hochstein on the sidelines of the on-going Investing in Africa Indaba, Cape Town, South Africa.
In his submission, Hochstein stressed that the US has a special relationship with Nigeria, spanning several decades and cutting across diverse sectors.
He affirmed the interest of the United States to work with Nigeria to unlock investments in the mining ecosystem spanning infrastructural development, technical assistance in upscaling mining operations and investment in the mining industry.
“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.
Alake in his remarks lauded US interest in the mining sector, emphasising that as Nigeria’s longstanding ally, a new vista of collaboration for mining development will strengthen bilateral relations and translate to mutual benefits for both countries.
“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 flow of information on both sides,” the Minister said.
On financing, the Solid Minerals Development Fund, SMDF, Executive Secretary, Fatima Shinkafi stated that a certain percentage of oil resources comes to the fund, highlighting 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,” she added.
Both countries thereafter nominated members into the working group that will commence deliberations in earnest.
Accompanying head of the US delegation, Amos Hochstein to the parley were Ag. 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 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.
