Mining: Federal Government reiterates commitment to attract investment into Nigeria

The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to attract more investments into Nigeria, to prioritize orderly and efficient development of mining of the seven priority minerals in the mining roadmap.

Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, made this known at the Kaduna Investment Summit 6.0 in Kaduna.

He mentioned some of the minerals to include coal, bitumen, limestone, iron ore, barites, gold, lead and zinc ore.

Ogah said his Ministry is working on incentives to improve the investment climate for mining activities by formalizing artisanal and small-scale mining activities across the country.

He disclosed that the Federal government has direct intervention fund under the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project, NIMEP which was designed to take advantage of the underexplored metallogenic belts.

The Minister applauded the giant strides of Kaduna State Government in the areas of attracting investments into the country and the State in particular which, he said, has started yielding fruits.

“This administration has not hidden its passion to provide the needed support to States that have demonstrated capacity to stimulate economic activities and Kaduna, under the leadership of Governor El-Rufai, has been a shining example,”  he noted.

In a goodwill message, Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said with the yearly KADINVEST summit, business is bound to thrive in Kaduna State.

He mentioned that the cardinal point of the present administration is to increase the ease of doing business and minimize any hindrance in the country.

Aregbesola, however, said a critical factor in any economic production is security:

“No matter where you are, if security is not guaranteed, you are a starter.

“The Federal Government is conscious of the country’s security situation; soon it will be overcome,” he assured.