By Olubunmi Omoogun – The reform introduced by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake is yielding the required results as stakeholders in the industry have continued to commend the Minister for his proactive approach to addressing the challenges bedevilling the sector.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the Honourable Minister, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan quoted the minister to have said the Federal Government has reversed the pit to port policy under which mining companies exported raw minerals to extraction with local value addition which is the best guarantee of jobs for the youths, skills transfer and better balance of trade between the country and her trading partners.
The reform has also added to the value of the nation’s domestic treasures.
As part of the ongoing reform, the former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy has announced that applicants for mining licences must disclose plans for processing the raw minerals as one of the conditions for approval.
The forward-thinking Ekiti born Minister said, “The trade balance between Nigeria and China is over one billion dollars in favour of China because the minerals imported from Nigeria are essentially in raw forms. Once Nigeria starts to export finished or semi-finished value-added mineral products to China and other trading partners, our balance of trade will be more favourable, and our foreign exchange earnings will improve. With aggressive local value addition and the revenue from it, the prospects of reducing our debt burden in the nearest future is possible. “
Dr. Oladele Alake has also hailed the $1 billion (N1.6Trillion) new iron ore to steel project planned for Kogi State as a breakthrough in the Federal Government’s campaign to make local value addition the model of development in the solid minerals sector.
While addressing the promoters- Chart and Capstone Integrated Limited of Nigeria and Sinomach-He of China-on the sidelines of the visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to China in Beijing recently, Alake pledged the cooperation of the Federal Government with the promoters to ensure the delivery of the project as fast as possible.
Presenting a Memorandum of Understanding signed by both companies to the Minister, a player in the sector, Chief Executive Officer of Chart and Capstone Integrated Limited, Chief Abel Edijala commended the Honourable Minister for putting in place an efficient licence application process that works without red tapes and corruption.
Edijala said “We applied for an exploration licence for our iron ore mining project at the Mining Cadastral Office, and we did not need to see anybody before our application was approved within a reasonable period This shows that the system you have put in place is fair and works for all. I must commend you for this.”
He explained that the model is that the iron ore site will feed the steel manufacturing plant and grow to service the needs of the Nigerian economy for industrialisation.
Edijala further stated that the project will require tax waivers for the importation of equipment and tax holidays during the take-off period to cope with the fluctuations in the macro-economic system and meet targets.
Explaining Sinomach-He’s readiness to commence work, its vice manager, Hou Encai said the state-owned company was established in 1958 to meet the needs of the Chinese economy and has over 15,000 staff including 2000 engineers on its payroll.
Encai said the company engages in mining, iron making, steel rolling, steel making, the construction of infrastructures, and handles 80 per cent of the steel needs of the Chinese economy.
“In mining, we have the technology on how to excavate the ores from the earth. We can evaluate the iron ore potential of any site and tell you what the feasibility of mineral extraction is on a site. Secondly, we have the equipment needed, including excavators and drilling machines for mining iron ore. For transportation of iron ore from site to the factory, my group produces the trucks,” he said.
According to the MOU, Sinomach-He shall be the master contractor and deploy its expertise in the engineering, procurement, installation, commissioning, and training of the project.
Other participants at the meeting were the Executive Secretary-General, Working Committee for Overseas Co-operation of China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Professor He Lixiong, chairman, Belt and Road Africa Economic Initiative, Mr. Innocent Okonkwo, Sinomach-He overseas general manager, Li Ke, and senior project manager, Deng Shiyuan.
Nigeria’s Consul-General to China, Ambassador Gbadebo Afolabi confirmed the integrity of Sinomach-He disclosing that a team from the embassy had conducted due diligence on the company and found it suitable for the transaction.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development has been working round the clock to ensure transparency and accountability hold sway in the sector so that Nigeria can strengthen its economy for the good of the people.
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