Press Release (Part)
Solid Minerals Development Minister Dr. Oladele Alake has hailed the $1 billion (N1.6Trillion) new iron ore to steel project planned for Kogi State as breakthrough in the Federal Government’s campaign to make local value addition the model of development in the solid minerals sector.
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| Solid Minerals Development Minister Dr. Oladele Alake, hail new iron ore to steel project planned for Kogi State. Photo: @FMINONigeria |
Addressing the promoters- Chart and Capstone Integrated Limited of Nigeria and Sinomach-He of China-on the sidelines of the visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to China in Beijing recently, Alake pledged the cooperation of the Federal Government with the promoters to ensure the delivery of the project as fast as possible.
He said the Federal Government has reversed the pit to port policy under which mining companies exported raw minerals to extraction with local value addition which is the best guarantee of jobs for the youths, skills transfer and better balance of trade between the country and her trading partners.
He noted that, to promote local value addition, he has announced that applicants for licences to mine must disclose plans for processing the raw minerals as part of the conditions for approval.
“The trade balance between Nigeria and China is over one billion dollars in favour of China because the minerals imported from Nigeria are essentially in raw forms. Once Nigeria starts to export finished or semi-finished value-added mineral products to China and other trading partners, our balance of trade will be more favourable, and our foreign exchange earnings will improve. With aggressive local value addition and the revenue from it, the prospects of reducing our debt burden in the nearest future is possible,” he said.
Kehinde Bamigbetan
Special Adviser to the Honourable Minister.
8th September, 2024.
