TheCable

Kayode Fayemi, minister of mining and solid minerals, has called on British lawmakers and investors to come invest in Nigeria and enjoy the goodwill of President Muhammadu Buhari, which he said Nigeria is currently enjoying.

Addressing British parliamentarians and investors at a session organised by the All-Party Parliamentarian Group (APPG) on Nigeria at the British parliament, Westminster, London, Fayemi said negative views about Nigeria are unduly exaggerated.

Fayemi said perception about Nigeria are often skewed in favour of negative stereotypes that are contrary to the reality of the ground.

He categorised the country’s mineral deposits into five groups, vis:  industrial minerals (such as barite, kaolin limestone); energy minerals (such as bitumen and uranium); metallic ore minerals (gold, iron ore , copper), Construction minerals (granite, gravel) and precious stones ( sapphire, emerald, topaz).

“In 2015, the sector contributed approximately 0.33% to the gross domestic product of the country. This contribution is a reversal from historically higher percentages (about 4-5% in the 1960s-70s),” Fayemi said.

“Our policy goal is to return to a contribution level of 5% – 7% over the next 10 – 15 years, and the recently approved Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) is very supportive of this aspiration”.

Fayemi, who noted Britain’s role in the development of mining in Jos and Enugu dating back to 1902, urged them to invest in Nigeria’s steel sector, which currently has a market size of $3.3 billion per annum.

He assured them that the steel sector has the potential to grow to $15 billion per annum “with increased industrialisation driven by our domestic feedstock, which constitutes the second largest iron ore reserves in Africa”.

“We project a steady increase in demand for steel in Nigeria in the coming decade, driven by increased industrialization that will ignite a surge in building construction, power, automotive construction, agriculture, road and bridge building, military technology and infrastructure development, refinery investments, and other heavy duty machinery.

“This ever-widening vortex of hunger for steel and iron ore is an opportunity for local and international investors to participate in the consolidation and expansion of Africa’s largest economy. Our optimism is also informed by the fact that current local producers are meeting less than 25 percent of demand”.

Speaking on Buhari’s goodwill, Fayemi said: “Our president has particularly been at the forefront of vigorous strategic diplomatic engagements around the world to give Nigeria a new image and demonstrate that we are open for investments.

“Our administration is actively leveraging the treasure trove of goodwill and good reputation we enjoy, which borrows largely from the widely acknowledged personal integrity of Mr. President himself, to project Nigeria in a more positive light as a worthwhile investment destination.

“Transparency is also a key consideration in how the mining industry will be run. We intend to foster a culture of openness which will, in turn, engender trust between all stakeholders.

“For me as the Chairperson of the Nigerian Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), this is an obligation and not a favour to stakeholders. As you may all be aware, only last week, President Muhammadu Buhari joined Prime Minister David Cameron, and other leaders to commit to Open Governance and Transparency principles – transparency in the extractives industry is particularly key to that commitment.

“Our ambition goes beyond just extraction and exportation. We aim to create a globally competitive sector capable of contributing to wealth creation, jobs creation and the advancement of our social and human security. It is also to create a new culture of sustainable natural resource management that results in a win-win situation for all of us – communities, partners and investors at home and abroad.”