Mines and steel sector crucial to Nigeria's economic growth post-covid-19- Minister

The Minister of Mines and Steel Olamilekan Adegbite has stated that Nigeria can fall back on the sector as an alternative income-generating sector following the COVID-19 crisis even as the Federal Government woos investors to boost revenue.

He said the Federal Government has lured the UK and other foreign investors with mineral potentials and incentives to Nigeria.

“Investors in the United Kingdom (UK) and other advanced countries should consider investing in Nigeria’s mineral and mining sector, as it features attractive incentives and potentials.”

The Minister, who spoke during a webinar by the Nigerian Global Business Forum in association with the Nigerian British Business Forum, said the current administration has started to look into the challenges and neglect in the sector.

He said it recognises mining as a strategic income stream in the face of dwindling oil revenue and looks forward to increasing its contribution to the national GDP by 3%.

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration met serious challenges in the mining sector occasioned by long neglect. It was apparent that we must re-enact the ‘Nigeria before oil’ policies when the sector contributed as much as 5.6% in 1980 to the national GDP,” he said.

He noted the sector is an investment opportunity in Nigeria that creates jobs and increases revenues earnings.

Titled Invest Nigeria (Opportunities, Guidelines, Incentive), the webinar witnessed the attendance of the CEO, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Olusegun Awolowo, who said the agency has devised the Nigeria Diaspora export programme (NDEX) to use Nigeria large diaspora to more effectively increase non-oil exports.