LIVE UPDATES
Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and France have refined the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was signed last month in Paris, with France making specific commitments to enhance the laboratory, supply advanced technological equipment, and finance the exploration of geological data for the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency.
During a meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, and France’s Inter-ministerial Delegate for Strategic Minerals, Benjamin Gallezot, along with their teams, agreed to share information regarding the mining laws of both nations to compare cadastral management practices and address illegal mining issues.
Gallezot revealed that his department was reviewing a list of French companies interested in investing in the Nigerian mining sector and would send the final list of verified serious investors to the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
In his opening remarks, Alake expressed gratitude to Gallezot for collaborating on the MOU despite tight timelines during Nigerian President Bola Tinubu's visit to French President Emmanuel Macron, noting that efforts by political adversaries to mislead the public about the MOU's true objectives have been effectively countered.
He stated that the Future Minerals Forum provided an opportunity for both countries to advance their understanding by developing programs, policies, and projects to dispel doubts about their collaboration and yield positive results.
The discussions covered topics such as sustainable mining, artisanal mining, geological exploration, cadastral management, training, and funding. In his presentation, the Director-General (DG) of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), Prof. Olusegun Ige, expressed the agency’s intention to acquire modern advanced technological equipment to improve geological data exploration.
He pointed out that the absence of such equipment has hindered the exploration of extensive mineralized areas.
Ige emphasized the necessity of upgrading the laboratory to analyze extracted rocks with the latest technology to produce precise information. Stressing the importance of training and skills transfer, Ige highlighted the need to cultivate local expertise with international exposure, as mining is a global industry.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, Engineer Simon Nkom, advocated for a comparison of the mining laws of France and Nigeria to identify areas of commonality and potential improvements, suggesting that this could aid in the ongoing review of mining regulations.
Simon encouraged the French delegation to motivate French investors to explore opportunities in the Nigerian mining sector by utilizing the MOU.
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Solid Minerals Fund, Hajiya Fatima Shinkafi, proposed co-funding early-stage exploration projects between the agency and French financial institutions, noting that the SMDF has gathered significant historical data and best practices from its current partnership with the Africa Finance Corporation to support mining entrepreneurs seeking exploration funding.
In response to the issues raised by NGSA, Deputy Director of the Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres (BRGM), the French geological agency, Christophe Poinssot, assured that Nigeria would be included among the countries benefiting from funds managed by France to enhance the capacity of geologists in Africa.
He mentioned that over 1,000 African geologists have benefited from the eight-year fund and that the request for capacity building aligned with the MOU coincided with the commencement of a new phase of the funding project.
Poinssot also announced that Nigeria would gain from France’s initiative to empower mining nations by establishing laboratories for geological analysis, stating that since Nigeria already has a laboratory, France would upgrade it to meet international standards.
Concluding the French delegation's stance on the discussions, Gallezot indicated that the proposals would be reviewed at various government levels, and a program for implementation would be developed.
He mentioned that the geological agencies of both countries could engage in joint exploration efforts on specific minerals to create a comprehensive database.
The parties agreed to formulate the program and assess its implementation during next month’s annual Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa.
