Nigeria has sought the support of the Commonwealth towards the development of her deep sea mining subsector.
The prospects for deep sea mining in Nigeria’s coastal waters and the need to develop it in line with the economic diversification drive of the federal government led the discussion when a Nigerian delegation led by Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, paid a courtesy visit to the Commonwealth Secretariat in the UK recently, a statement signed by the Minister’s aide, Kehinde Bamigbetan, said.
Addressing the forum, Alake said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has identified the solid minerals sector as a pillar of Nigeria’s current efforts to diversify the economy.
“This policy,” he said, “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.
Responding, the Senior Director, Trade, Oceans and Natural Resources Department, Paul Kautoke, who commended the delegation for the visit
said Nigeria being 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 to develop 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, respectively, about the progress achieved in deep sea mining, expressing concerns that African countries were lagging behind.
While Swaddling said there were 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.
Responding, Alake 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.
