The 2019 edition of Annual Nigeria Mining Week presented key stakeholders in the sector from various parts of the country and beyond the opportunity to converge in Abuja and brainstorm on how to reposition the sector for optimum performance in line with the federal government’s economic diversification drive.
Sharing her experience in the mining business at a panel discussion on Monday, October 14, the Vice Chairman, Kian Smith Trade & Co Nigeria, Nere Teriba emphasized that trust and purity of the heart are critical elements to excel in the sector.
According to her, artisanal miners have a strong belief that lack of trust and dishonesty erode them the opportunity of having sufficient gold to mine in the course of going their jobs.
She emphasized that as a new player in the industry many years ago, those who were in the business before her entry trusted her enough and gave her all the support she needed, including a case where she received 7 trucks of lead in trust, a virtue she said every industry player must imbibe.
“Trust is big in this sector because it’s quite difficult to source funds. At the end of the day, what you have is your good name. People call each other and they will know. If you do a business and you don’t pay, it will rob you of trust. Trust is big” she declared.
While describing Nigeria as a green field and opportunity in mining, Teriba appealed to Nigerians to develop a new spirit of collaborative efforts to build the country. “I want to speak to all Nigerians gathered here today. We have to build our country. In all the mining conferences I attend across the world, it’s the same problem. There is infrastructural deficit and a lot of other issues confronting us. It’s very hard for investors to come and build your country for you. They will only come, look and discover there is no road to the mining sites, power supply and many other factors.
“The way our country is right now, anyone who is not ready to collaborate and get involved in community development, building infrastructure, handling negotiation, funding, marketing, honestly I don’t know how it will work. If you are not ready to build your country, it will be very hard” she said.
She applauded the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development for the support it has availed stakeholders, appealing that more could still be done to ease the burden of miners in Nigeria.
Also sharing his 25 years experience in the mining sector, a UK-based Nigerian miner and the Chief Executive Officer, Thor Exploration Ltd UK, Segun Lawson said activities of host communities have imposed a serious pitfall in mining operation across the country.
Lawson who was represented by Mr. Augustine expressed dissatisfaction with a situation where community members prematurely demand for monetary compensation at exploration stage before the actual mining commences.
Corroborating Tariba’s submission, Lawson said transparency, strict adherence to mining regulations and Act are the only means to gain the confidence and support of the people.
“We also have communities which at a time you begin your operation, whether or not you are exploring, they think you are mining. What they are demanding from you at the time of exploration is what you need revenue from mining to give to them. If this is not well managed, you can only imagine the problem that await you in the future.
“Again, it’s something that will scare investors here but somehow we have managed to constantly teach and engage them on the platform that we are being very transparent, telling them that we are dealing with them based on how we have been advised to deal with them as contained in the mining Act and regulations. So it’s a pitfall we have managed to navigate through and we are constantly doing this” he said.
He also identified the appointment of a liaison officer from the host community who checkmates the activities of the mining company with regards to community relations as a way his organization has fostered harmonious relationship host communities.
“Looking at Community Development Agreement (CDA), it’s crucial for Mining Cadastre Office to grant you a mining lease. If you don’t have a CDA, they won’t give you one” Lawson revealed.
He applauded the management and staff Mining Cadastre of being supportive of everything his organization has done, saying the office has given them all the support they have needed.
He underlines transparency and fairness across the various communities as the backbone of efficient CDA and inclusive representation of the community.
Among other things the organization does to enjoy a hitch-free operation he said is the provision of basic infrastructure such as pipe-borne water, refurbishment of existing ones, adequate attention to environmental baseline services and others.
Accelerating Investment in mining sector
Nere Tariba while fielding questions from participants charged stakeholders to, as custodians start making efforts to change the narratives of the sector. She described as horrible a situation where narratives of illegal mining have been amplified about the sector.
In her opinion, investors both locally and internationally will not be in a hurry to put their money in a sector riddled with illegalities. She charged industry players to adopt a more constructive way of passing information as to protect the image of the sector before potential investors.
“I think the biggest problem is the narratives that come from our mouth. I have had investors come here and tell me I’m so glad I came to your conference. You guys are not ready for funding so we are not coming back. This is largely because of the things we discuss. We talk more about problems and they think we are not ready. If we want finding, we need to stop talking the way we do and act like we mean business. Speak positively like you believe in what you are doing and investor will listen” she said.
In his contribution, the Project Co-ordinator, MinDiver, Utsu Linus Adie admitted that mining, just like other sectors has it own challenges. He emphasized that both the Federal and State Governments, the operators, communities and investors have a role to play in making the industry thrive in Nigeria.
Adie expressed the willingness of the federal government to derisk the sector to attract investors even as the scarcity of mining funds bites harder globally.
One of such steps the government has taken in derisking the sector, in his word is to gather information to engender some sense of confidence among the investors to bring in funds.
He also identified technology as playing a vital role. Adie said MinDiver has created a geo data centre in Nigeria, a project understudied from British Geological Survey Agency.
He explained that Nigerian geo data information is being digitized and put in a format and system that can be accessed anywhere in the world, adding that this gives the investor a lot of confidence.
Explaining further, he revealed that MinDiver is bringing back the geological information the country acquired during the military era, assuring that it is very useful with few improvements added to it.
According to him, the cadastre system is also another area where major steps are being taken to boost the confidence of investors in the sector. He said when an ongoing project in Mining Cadastre Office is completed, anyone anywhere in the world can easily access geological regulatory information irrespective of distance.
He tasked communities to show some friendliness to investors around them and show satisfaction with Community Development Agreement put in place by government to protect them.
In his contribution, the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Waziri Adio said part of the core responsibilities of his office is to open mining sector to transparency through enhancement of level playing field for everyone.
Adio who was represented by Ahmed Bassi expressed satisfaction with the kind of mining cadastre operated in Nigeria which he said is easy and has brought about significant level of confidence among operators.
He expressed regret that because of the ease in obtaining licenses, many companies acquire multiple titles without making use of them. He also added that multiple and unorganized taxation from communities and local governments scare investors away, insisting that it distorts their fiscal planning.
He called for effective synergy between various government agencies especially Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service and other agencies to remove some of the bottlenecks that deter investment in mining sector.
Dr. Garba Abdulrasaq, the DG Nigeria Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) in his submission said one of the major stumbling blocks in the sector is that the geoscience information available before now is too academic, saying there was need to get core industry players to take part in producing a geoscience information to speak the language of the industry, which he said led to NIMEP.
Dr. Garba while decrying lack of competent persons in mining sector added that in the design of NIMEP project, only competent persons who understand the industry were drafted to drive the project while people in the industry such as NGSA, National Steel Raw Materials and others can learn how to produce geoscience information that investors understand.
The essence of this he said is to remove the challenges involved in mitigating against getting the geoscience data that are in the form that people in the industry can understand.
The Nigeria Mining Week 2019, which is the 4th in the series lasted between October 14-16.
