FG Targets N30trn Mining Sector Through Major Reforms

FG Targets N30trn Mining Sector Through Major Reforms

The Federal Government on Thursday reaffirmed its ambition to expand Nigeria’s solid minerals industry 25-fold to about N30trn, equivalent to approximately $21bn, by 2030, as reforms in the sector continue to attract fresh investments and significantly increase government revenue.

The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Fatima Shinkafi, disclosed this while delivering the keynote address titled “Building Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Future: The Power of Academia, Government and Industry in Partnership,” at the maiden Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences Annual Lecture Series of the University of Lagos.

“The Federal Government’s target is a 25-fold expansion of the sector to roughly N30tn (about $21bn) by 2030,” she said.

A statement signed by the spokesperson for the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Idowu Jokpeyibo, said the Federal Government’s ongoing reforms in the mining sector had increased federation revenue by more than 337 per cent within two years while attracting about $2.6bn in fresh investment commitments.

Speaking to academics, researchers, industry stakeholders, and students, Shinkafi said Nigeria’s mining industry remained one of the country’s most underdeveloped economic sectors despite possessing vast commercial deposits of more than 44 solid minerals spread across over 500 locations nationwide.

The statement read, “The Solid Minerals Development Fund outlined progress on the Federal Government’s roadmap to triple Nigeria’s solid minerals sector to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030, a target set by the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, under his Seven-Point Agenda, in a keynote address delivered at…