MINERALS DEVELOPMENT: ONE PLACE COOKIE IS COOKING

If there is one sector in the Nigerian economy change can truly be said to be taking place since the Buhari administration, it is the minerals development and exploitation sector.

Of course, some strides have been recorded in agriculture but more on the back of Central Bank of Nigeria dedicated intervention fund mainly and as well as build up on what was inherited from the Jonathan administration.

Not so for the solid miberals sector where in a very cooperative atmosphere and focus, the ministry of solid minerals development has been laying good foundation for revamping of the sector.

Perhaps, this is because solid minerals had fallen out of focus over the years leaving room for more and more of unregulated mining.

Within the last 12 months, a road map has been drawn and launched for the sector; MOUs have been signed with some key mining countries, support funding has been obtained from the World Bank and investors have indeed started to pick interest in the sector once again.

Noteworthy is the commitment by Chinese manganese processor on January 10 to set up a smelting plant in Nigeria (Sokoto, most likely) to convert mined manganese into silicon manganese.

The company, through its Chairman, Mr M O Junhong had said it needed about 100megawats of energy for the project and plans are underway to source this from coal sites in Kogi state.

The manganese which the company, Ningxia Jiyuan Metallurgical group, need will be supplied by Sino Mine Metals ltd, according to its Chairman, Mr Paul Kaizer. Sino, says Kaizer, are already mining manganese at Sokoto state.

Sure, mining is yet another capital intensive business with risks similar to crude oil prospecting but players say with N10m you could be a miner and with N150,000 you could buy and sell or export.

Investors can key into the sector in various ways like acquisition and interpretation of geoscience data, infrastructural support; provision of security for mines, and technical support services.

However, declared Solid Minerals minister, Dr Kayode Fayemi last year, " mining has not been and will never be the source of overnight easy monies. Companies have to play smart bets based on geoscience data"

He then gave a commitment that 12 months from then, the sector "would have moved from the pages of roadmap  to active results" in terms of number of mining licenses issued, capital inflow and jobs created.

The 12 months expires by next March and there is room to hope that he will be proved right.

In the second half of this year, the MOU signed with South Africa will lead to a mining investment promotion conference to be jointly hosted by both countries.

Good enough, mistakes made over the years that led to environmental degradation in the Niger Delta while crude oil was being exploited has provided good lessons for solid minerals development. Host states are starting off with 13% derivation so grudgingly awarded to crude oil producing states and concerns for the environment are factored into the road map.

Thank God too, the laws and incentives for solid minerals exploitation have in place since the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007 came into effect in 2007.

What was lacking was the political will to make things happen all because crude oil and gas was funding the whole nation so cheaply although at great cost to host communities.