The Federal Government through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development has partnered with the Africa Finance Corporation on data gathering to de-risk investment in the mining sector.
The partnership is tailored towards repositioning and sanitising the solid minerals sector of the economy.
Minister for Solid Minerals, Dr Oladele Alake, made this known during the visit by the President/CEO, Africa Finance Corporation, Mr Samaila Zubairu.
Riding on the existing partnership between the AFC and Solid Minerals Development Fund, Dr Alake said, “The Ministry will consolidate on this partnership to develop the necessary data needed to advance the $700bn value under the big data strategy.”
Elaborating further, the Minister explained that every effort being made through policies and programmes to make Nigeria a destination for Solid Minerals Development will be futile if the nation didn’t improve on data gathering. ”We will invest heavily in data generation, concise and precise data generation that will enable investors make informed decisions,” Dr. Alake enthused.
The Minister seized the opportunity of the visit to hint at initiatives by the SMDF and the AFC to catalyze the development of the mineral sector under their partnership.
He said, “These initiatives directly support Mr President’s renewed hope agenda, particularly in foreign direct investment, job creation and increased fiscal revenues. The agreement is a critical win under the recently announced Transformation Agenda as it directly supports establishing processing centres to focus on value- added products.”
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