The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the 150 million dollars loan obtained from the World Bank for the development of the nation’s mining sector.
Fayemi stated this while addressing State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with the President in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday
The minister disclosed that part of the loan would be utilised for gathering of geological data, provision of technological equipment for artisanal and small scale miners.
The grant will also be used to assist those crossing over from exploration to exploitation and to actual mining, he said.
“I have come to brief the President about what is going on in the mining sector and to particularly inform him of the major breakthrough we had on Friday with the World Bank approving the $150million dollar request that we made to them during the meeting in Washington.
“And then the activities of illegal miners, the work we are doing with regards to that, my tour around the country and the gradual improvements we are beginning to see in the sector particularly in relation to our growth.
“It is a sector that seems to have defiled recession, according to the bureau of statistics, its growing while other sectors may be experiencing challenges; that is not to say that we have reached Eldorado.
“But, it is a journey and we are beginning to see concrete development and the President as you know also approved an intervention fund for this sector, the first of its kind in the history of the mining sector,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the World Bank on Wednesday via a statement announced the approval of the 150 million dollars credit to help increase the mining sector’s contribution to the Nigerian economy.
The Senior Communication Officer of the bank, Ms Olufunke Olufon, who signed the statement, said the credit would help to establish a strong foundation for mining sector development in the country.
She added that the facility would also enhance competitiveness by improving information infrastructure and knowledge of mining.
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Nguru Usani, who also briefed President Buhari on the activities of his ministry, dismissed the assertion that the Ministry of Niger Delta had not inaugurated a single project in the past 16 months.
Usani told the State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with the president that his ministry had successfully completed a number of verifiable developmental projects in the Niger Delta region. (NAN)
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