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Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has tabled the government's requirements for issuing mining license to prospective investors.
" We are no longer going to allow anybody or license any company that wants to go into the mineral sector without giving us a plan for local value addition, like processing, refining and this has a multiplier effect on the economy, " said Alake.
In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, Alake said that the Federal Government had resolved to ensure compliance before permitting investors to operate.
He said that his Seven -Point Agenda for the ministry had placed the mining sector on global front burner since assuming office, which had generated renewed interest from the international community in Nigeria’s mineral resources.
He said the support of the executive and the legislature had enabled the ministry to showcase the solid minerals sector globally, resulted in his election as the Chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
He said that with the pact that led to the formation of the AMSG, there is now unity of purpose on the African continent regarding the issue of local value addition.
“It instantly generates employment rather than a few people carting away lithium, gold, and the likes to other countries to sell.
“These minerals must now be processed in Nigeria, creating more value and beneficiation for local communities where they are sourced, ” he said
