FG secures $150m World Bank support for mining devt ---Fayemi
*Dr Kayode Fayemi
(Nigeria) The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, has secured $150million (N45.7 billion) support from the World Bank for the Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification, MSSED or MinDiver, programme.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi,
who disclosed this in Abuja on Monday, said the Ministry was working with the
Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and other
institutions to assemble a $600million
investment fund for the sector, by first quarter of 2017.
The Minister stated this in his 2016 end of year ministerial
briefing and projections for Year 2017, at the conference room of the Ministry.
The event was attended by the Minister of State for Mines
and Steel Development, Abubakar Bwari and the Permanent Secretary of the
Ministry, Mohammed Abbas.
Fayemi said: “We have secured support from the World Bank
for the funding of $150mn Mineral Sector
Support for Economic Diversification ((Economic Diversification MSSED or
MinDiver) programme, adding that “a critical component of the support is to
provide technical assistance for the restructuring and operationalisation of
the Solid Minerals Development Mining Investment Fund, which would make finance
available to ASM operators through development finance, micro-finance and
leasing institutions.
The Minister spoke of plans for the mining sector new year,
at the event which also featured the commissioning of 38 surveillance vehicles
bought for mines officers, valued at about N322 million.
He said “The fund will also help to bring back on stream
previously abandoned proven mining projects like tin ore, iron ore, coal, gold
and lead-zinc among others.”
Fayemi said the sector has witnessed some positive
developments and productivity in the
last one year, including a major improvement in the ministry’s contribution to
the Federation Account to about N2 billion n in 2016, up from N700m in 2015.
He added that
increased productivity in the
mining space had also led to significant discovery of mineral deposits,
notably the large find of high-grade nickel a few months ago in Dangoma, Kaduna
State by an Australian mining company operating in Nigeria.
Fayemi, further revealed that government had constructed 10
Prototype Mineral Buying Centres across the country for specific strategic
industrial minerals.
“The centres are to serve as standardisation centres to
enable ASM Cooperatives and operators receive fair premium for their labour.
With renewed determination to strengthen collaborative efforts with State
governments in natural resource governance, the PMBCs are being ceded to state
governments,” he said.
Dr Fayemi recalled that he had identified some challenges ,
including lack of geological data, weak institutional capacity and limited
supporting infrastructure during his inaugural ministerial briefing on December
21, 2015, said he the ministry has recorded some remarkable achievements in
tackling those challenges..
The Minister also inaugurated the Mining Implementation
Strategy Team, MIST. Composition to be chaired by the Chairman, Nigerian Mining
and Geosciences Society, Prof. Olugbenga Okunlola and Coordinated by the
Special Adviser to the Minister on Policy and Strategy, Prof. Okey Onyejekwe.
Presenting their Terms of Reference, TOR, the Minister said,
“These includes developing a logical framework matrix that spells out
priorities, key performance indicators (KPIs),targets/benchmarks, time lines
and result based action plans.
“Others include developing a framework for monitoring and
evaluating the implementation process and progress, developing resource base
mobilisation, developing accountability framework and communication strategy
for communicating the implementation process and progress.”
While commissioning the surveillance vehicles, the Minister
who remarked that that was the first time the ministry would procure such a
large fleet of surveillance vehicles, urged the Mines Officers to use the
vehicles and other surveillance gadgets to ensure effective inspection of mines
activities.
The commissioning was witnessed by the Minister of State, Abubakar Bwari, the Permanent Secretary of the
Ministry, Mr. Mohammed Abbas; the wife of Kebbi State Governor, Hajia Zainab Bagudu;
and Commissioner for Commerce, Zamfara State, Hajia Fatima Umaru Shinkafi.
The Minister said: “The execution of this vehicle
procurement project is therefore a clear demonstration of the commitment of
this administration to our strategic goal of repositioning the Mining sector
for greater productivity. One of our objectives is to strengthen our ministry
with the requisite capacity and capabilities to deliver on our mandate to
effectively regulate the sector”, he added.
Fayemi stated that the fleet of vehicles cost Government
about N322 Million, which is no small expenditure in view of competing
priorities.
He said the purchase of the vehicles has successfully
addressed the challenge of the absence of logistical support for field operations
of the technical departments of the Ministry. The progress will result in
scaling up the capacity of the departments for effective discharge of their
statutory duties and functions.
The Minster said beginning from January 2017, he expect to
start seeing the positive impact of the investment in terms of increased
revenue generation, reduction in number of illegal mining incidences, fewer
cases of conflicts arising from mining activities, and timely rendering of
periodic reports of mining activities from respective field stations.
He warned officers to use the vehicles strictly for the
official duties they are meant for and on no reason should the vehicles be used
for unofficial purposes except with express approval. He said to discourage
arbitrary use of the vehicles other than the discharge of official duties, the
vehicles have been installed with tracking devices that will enable the
Ministry monitor their movements centrally from Abuja. That any officer that
runs afoul of the ethical use of the vehicles
shall be dealt with in accordance with relevant Civil Service Rules.
The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Bwari
in a vote of thanks commended the Dr. Fayemi for the passion shorn for the
mining industry, the National Assembly for their understanding and cooperation
for the industry, the Security Agencies for their cooperation and all
stakeholders especially the International partners and Agencies and the Media
for their support.
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