Commonwealth Secretariat has presented profitable prospects for deep sea mining in Nigeria’s coastal waters to the federal government.
Gatekeepers News reports that this was presented to the Nigerian delegation led by Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake on a courtesy visit to the institution last week.
Alake in his determination to mobilise international assistance to position the solid minerals sector to compete globally, requested to discuss matters of mineral development with the Commonwealth.
Special Adviser to the Honorable Minister, Kehinde Bamigbetan disclosed this in a statement made available to Gatekeepers News.
Alake, while addressing the forum, said President Bola Tinubu has identified the solid minerals sector as a pillar of Nigeria’s current efforts to diversify the economy.
The statement read, “This policy, he remarked, led the ministry to develop a. Seven Point Agenda that includes the establishment of a solid minerals company, gathering of Big Data on mineral reserve to de-risk investments, improved security to keep the mines safe and socio-economic development of mining communities through effective community development agreements.
He said the Commonwealth, as an institution that has developed expertise over many years, should support the Tinubu administration’s efforts.”
Nigeria, a former British colony, is a member of the 54-member Commonwealth.
In his response, the Senior Director, Trade, Oceans and Natural Resources Department, Paul Kautoke commended the delegation for visiting the Commonwealth secretariat.
Kautoke said Nigeria, as a coastal country, could explore the profitable prospects of extraction of deep sea minerals such as copper, cobalt, nickel, gold and rare earth elements.
He noted that many Commonwealth countries in the Pacific region were making inroads in the deep sea mining subsector promising that the Commonwealth could assist in developing a policy for Nigeria.
Also addressing the forum, Director, Natural Resources, Victor Kitange; Trade and Investment Adviser, Opeyemi Abebe; Economic Adviser, Trade, Ocean and Natural Resources, Daniel Wilder; and Adviser, Ocean Governance, Allison Swaddling spoke about the progress achieved in deep sea mining expressing concerns that African countries were lagging.
While Swaddling said there are online training programmes developed by the department, Abebe, who recalled working with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council to develop capacity offered to provide similar assistance to get Nigeria into deep sea mining.
In his response, the Minister said the discussion has brought a new dimension to mineral development and promised that the ministry would study the dimension of deep sea mining in collaboration with other ministries and put together a country proposal for further consideration.
