FG to boost economic growth with investment in solid minerals

FG to boost economic growth with investment in solid minerals

 By Udeme Clement & Faith Idem

The Federal Government is putting measures in place to boost economic growth through greater investment in the solid minerals sub-sector.

The Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, Waziri Adio, made this known during the launch of a report put together to enhance contribution of solid minerals to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

He explained that the potentials abound in this sector of the economy have not been fully harnessed, that there is the need for government to invest tangibly in solid minerals, in order to generate more revenue for the economy and create jobs for the citizens.

His words, “Clearly, Nigeria has a lot of potentials in solid minerals sector.  Simply having potentials is not enough because potentials alone would not translate to improving revenue for economic growth. Therefore, our country needs other streams of income .

” Solid minerals sector has all the potentials to generate more revenue for our economy, create  jobs for our people, even to expand our industries.  So, rather than just talking about the problems all the time, we want to do something  in building on-going reforms in the sector ».

He pointed out, “The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development is working tirelessly to reposition the sector.  Therefore, to align with this, we want to see how we can bring certain perspectives not just on the potentials and problems that are already known  but what needs to be done, going forward ».

According to him, the report, ‘Improving transparency and governance in Nigeria’s mining sector,’ was launched to bring on board what must  be done to enhance growth of the sector.