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Tag: Solid minerals

  • Fed Govt, PwC partner on solid minerals roadmap

    Fed Govt, PwC partner on solid minerals roadmap

    The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, will work with consulting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), to execute the seven-point roadmap to transform the sector.

    Solid Minerals Development Minister Dele Alake stated this yesterday after receiving the PWC partner on mining, Mr. Habeeb Jaiyeola in his office.

    According to a statement by Mr. Segun Tomori, the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Alake commended the firm for its role in the just-concluded Nigerian Mining Week and the first phase of the bitumen concession programme.

    Dr. Alake thanked the firm for its contribution to the mining sector over the years, assuring that the expertise and ideas of PwC would be factored into reforms of the mining sector and implementation of the seven-point agenda. 

    He added that President Bola Tinubu was focused on the sector as a game changer in the bid to reposition the country for lasting prosperity.

    Responding, Jaiyeola expressed PwC’s readiness to partner with the Ministry in achieving the objectives of the agenda which seeks to make the solid minerals a key sector to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country. 

    “We summarised our thoughts on the seven-point agenda, looking at it and suggesting how to bring it to life whilst advising on pitfalls and how to avoid them. 

    Read Also:Tinubu pledges more funding for solid minerals

    “The major thing is that at the end of the tenure of the administration, there will be key deliverables that can be monitored, and the roadmap on how each of them is going to be achieved and projected. 

    “We will be open to further deliberations on how we can proceed by comparing notes,” Jaiyeola was quoted to have said.

    The minister recently reeled out a seven-point agenda tagged: “Agenda for the Transformation of the solid minerals sector for international competitiveness and domestic prosperity”.

    It includes the creation of the Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation, Big Data on specific seven priority minerals and their deposits and a comprehensive review of all mining licenses, amongst others.

  • Fed Govt partners PwC on solid minerals roadmap

    Fed Govt partners PwC on solid minerals roadmap

    The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, will work with consulting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), to execute the policies under the seven-point roadmap to transform the sector.
    Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake stated this yesterday after receiving the PWC partner on mining, Mr. Habeeb Jaiyeola in his office.

    According to a statement by Segun Tomori, the minister’s special assistant on media, Alake commended the firm for its role in the just-concluded Nigerian Mining Week and the first phase of the bitumen concession programme.

    Alake thanked the firm for its contribution to the mining sector over the years, assuring that the expertise and ideas of PwC would be factored into reforms of the mining sector and implementation of the seven-point agenda.

    He added that President Bola Tinubu was focused on the sector as a game changer in the bid to reposition the country for lasting prosperity.

    Responding, Jaiyeola expressed PwC’s readiness to partner with the ministry in achieving the objectives of the agenda which seeks to make the solid minerals a key sector to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country.

    Read Also: Lafarge, Solid Minerals ministry agree to cut carbon emissions

    He said: “We summarised our thoughts on the seven-point agenda, looking at it and suggesting how to bring it to life whilst advising on pitfalls and how to avoid them.

    “The major thing is that at the end of the tenure of the administration, there will be key deliverables that can be monitored, and the roadmap on how each of them is going to be achieved and projected.

    “We will be open to further deliberations on how we can proceed by comparing notes,” Jaiyeola was quoted to have said.
    The minister recently reeled out a seven-point agenda tagged “Agenda for the Transformation of the Solid Minerals Sector for International Competitiveness and Domestic Prosperity.”

    It includes the creation of the Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation, Big Data on specific seven priority minerals and their deposits and a comprehensive review of all mining licenses, amongst others.

  • Solid minerals will promote climate change, says Alake

    Solid minerals will promote climate change, says Alake

    Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Oladele Alake, reiterated that the Federal government’s shift from hydrocarbon to prioritizing the minerals sector as a significant contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) aligns with their commitment to combat climate change.

    He said Nigeria has been operating a mono-cultural economy for a long, adding that the shift to solid minerals is overdue.

    The head of press and public relations of the ministry, Alaba Balogun in a statement said the minister made the statement when he received a delegation of the Miners Association of Nigeria, led by their national president, Dele Ayanleke.

    He stated: “Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Oladele Alake has reaffirmed that the decision of the Federal government to diversify from hydrocarbon to making the minerals sector a major contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) is our contribution to climate change.

    Read Also: FG to gather precise data on minerals, says Alake

    “Dr Alake dropped this hint when he received a delegation of the Miners Association of Nigeria, led by their National President, Mr Dele Ayanleke. The delegation comprised representatives of the VUKA group, co-organizer of the forthcoming Nigeria Mining Week and Price Waterhouse Coopers, the foremost accounting firm.

    “While commending the Association for its suggestive recommendations and consistent role in organizing the Mining Week; Dr Alake stated that Nigeria has been operating a mono-cultural economy for a long noting that the shift to solid minerals is overdue.”

    He said: ”Our vision is to make solid minerals our pride, a major contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product.

    We will diversify from oil, to exploit it for the survival of Nigeria. This is our own contribution to climate change”.

    “To this end, the Minister emphasized that the Ministry is committed to making requisite policies that will sanitize and rejig the regulatory framework and to make it more conducive for local and foreign investors to play”.

    “On the issue of incursion by the second tier of government into mining, Dr Alake stressed that the federal government will engage the state government and local government with a view to resolving surrounding issues within the ambit of the law.

    “Speaking on securing the mining sector environment for maximum yield to the Federal government, the Minister revealed that high-end technology will be deployed coupled with an inter-agency task force to arrest the menace completely. He, therefore, sought a partnership with the Miners Association of Nigeria to strengthen capacity in this regard for the growth and repositioning of the sector.

    “In his earlier remarks, the National President of Miners Association of Nigeria, Mr. Dele Ayanleke, in a vote of confidence, expressed  absolute assurance that the seven-point agenda unfolded by the Minister of Solid Minerals under the renewed hope agenda of this present administration will consolidate and enhance  the sector for maximum contribution to national development.”

  • ‘Fed Govt earned N52b from solid minerals in 2017’

    By John Ofikhenua Abuja and Ambrose Nnaji, Lagos 

    The solid minerals sector contributed N52.75 billion to the federation revenue in 2017, representing a 21 per cent increase on the N43.22 billion contributed by the sector in 2016.

    The amount was arrived at following an independent reconciliation of company payments and government receipts in the sector by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in its latest report just released in Abuja.

    NEITI’s Director, Communications and Advocacy, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, who  made this known in a statement issued at Abuja yesterday, said  from the sector’s total revenue contribution of N52.75billion, payments to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) accounted for N49.162 billion which is about 93 per cent of the total revenues realised during the period under review.

    He said payments to the Mines Inspectorate Department (MID) and Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) amounted to N1.59billion and N2.08billion or about three per cent and 4 per cent respectively of the total revenue from the sector. He however noted, “except for revenue from MID, there was significant increase in revenue from all other streams” in 2017.

    According to NEITI, “A trend analysis of the revenue flows showed that there has been a very remarkable increase in revenue accruing to the Federation from the solid minerals sector from 2013 to 2017, though 2016 witnessed a decrease of 31.02 per cent compared to 2015.”

    Other revenue flows from the solid minerals according to the NEITI report, include sub-national payments. These are direct payments to states and local governments as a result of national laws, contractual obligations or local regulations which are disclosed as unilateral disclosures by the extractive companies. “The total payment was ¦ 2.877 billion representing about 5.45% of total government revenue from the sector”, NEITI stated.

    On production, the NEITI Solid Minerals Report disclosed that 35.33 million metric tons of minerals valued at N32.78 billion was produced in Nigeria during the same period. “The production data was based on minerals either used or sold during the year”.

    A breakdown of the production showed that Limestone, Granite and Laterite accounted for 85.72% of the total minerals produced with Limestone alone contributing about 55% of the production volumes. However, in value terms, Granite and Limestone contributed 37.28% and 35.57% respectively.

    On state-by-state contribution, the report highlighted that Ogun State produced the highest quantity of minerals in terms of both volume and value.  “The state accounted for over one-third of total production quantity and 23% of the total minerals production value. The contributions by Ogun and Kogi states put together accounted for over half of the total production quantity”. A further analysis showed that the two states led in Limestone as major minerals produced in the states. However, in terms of production value, Ogun, FCT and Kogi states accounted for 23%, 20% and 18% respectively.

    A review of minerals production by states also shows that with the exception of the Federal Capital Territory, there was a material decline in states production in terms of both quantity and value. Total production quantity decreased from 41.87million metric tons valued at N34.09billion in 2016 to 35.33 million metric tons valued at N32.78billion in 2017. The figure represented a decline of 15.64% in production volumes and 3.83% in production value in 2017.

    The NEITI 2017 Solid Minerals report also revealed that Dangote Cement dominated activities in minerals production in 2017. The company alone was responsible for about 46% of the total minerals production that year.  Other big players in the sector included Lafarge Cement Plc., CGC Nigeria Limited and Julius Berger Plc.  “The four companies produced over 27 million tons of minerals, representing 77.31% of the total minerals production quantity and over 60% of the production value”, the report remarked.

    The sector’s contribution to employment in 2017 was about 0.3% of Nigeria’s total employment, same as the figure recorded in 2016. The report also affirmed that artisanal and small-scale miners currently dominate the sector.

    On the solid mineral sector’s contribution to exports, the NEITI report stated that about 16.34million metric tons of minerals valued at $29.90million was exported in 2017. According to the report, “Nigeria’s total export was about ¦ 13.60trillion with solid minerals contributing N77.23billion or 0.57% of total export in 2017”.

  • Diversifying Nigeria’s economy through solid minerals

    Nigeria is endowed with vast reserves of solid minerals, including, but not limited to, precious and base minerals, industrial minerals, energy minerals and metals.  The country was a major exporter of tin, columbite and coal in the 1960s to early 1970s. However, activities in this sector began to nosedive by the mid-1970s due to a number of political and economic factors, especially the significant focus on crude oil production as a major source of foreign exchange for the country.

    The mining of minerals in Nigeria accounts for only 0.3% of the GDP, due to the influence of vast oil resources. The domestic mining industry is underdeveloped, leading to Nigeria having to import minerals that it could produce domestically, such as salt or iron ore.

    The quest for the diversification of the Nigerian economy towards activating other sources of revenue has become necessary, given the constant increase in population and the country’s vast human and natural resources and against the backdrop of the decline in oil revenue which is currently trending. One key sector which offers great potential in achieving diversification is the solid minerals sector.

    Consequently, the government has affirmed its commitment to the exploration and development of solid minerals and metals by approving N30billion financial intervention, and prioritized for exploitation of seven strategic minerals of vital importance to the economy, i.e., coal, bitumen, iron ore, barites, gold and lead/zinc which are available in ample qualities to sustain mining activities in Nigeria. Also, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in the year 2016 approved new roadmap for the growth and development of the mining sector and renamed the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals to Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD).

    The distinguishing factor in the new roadmap, which builds on the old roadmap that was approved by the FEC in 2012, was its determination to set up an independent regulatory agency, which is to be constituted by members of the Inspectorate, Environmental Compliance and the Artisans and Small Scale units of the ministry as part of the regulatory agency to satisfy the demand of investors and stakeholders who have been insisting that the ministry which has been serving as facilitator should also not be the one that regulate them. This necessitated the current Bill before the National Assembly seeking to establish the Nigerian Mining Commission.

    The strategy under the ERGP 2017- 2020 is to create an enabling environment to enhance private investment, targeting energy minerals, iron/steel and gold/ gemstones. Thus, the specific key activities assigned to the MMSD to achieve this strategy are (a) Expand electro-magnetic and gravity exploration to complete resource mapping and (b) Increase access to information by improving the archiving of geo-data, harmonizing their format, and promoting their dissemination. To achieve this, the Honorable Minister and Honorable Minister of State of the MMSD set up a 17-man committee, to develop a roadmap for the sustainable development of the mining and metal sector in Nigeria.

    To demonstrate government’s commitment to the diversification plan, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD) issued a revised sector growth and development roadmap, with the objective of addressing the key challenges identified in the sector and outlining strategies for rapid development and utilization of key minerals and metals.  One of the targets of the roadmap is the growth of the sectors’ total contribution (direct and indirect) to Nigeria’s GDP to about 10% by 2026.

    On application by Nigerian government to the World Bank in 2017, a cumulative fund was approved to enhance the mining sector’s contribution to the economy by strengthening key government institutions, improving information infrastructure and knowledge, and fostering domestic investment in the sector in the sum of USD150 million which is equivalent to N46 billion spread from 2017 to 2023. Thus, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) received the sum of USD10 million and USD20 million in 2017 and 2018 respectively. It is expected that the FGN will receive the sum of USD20 million in this current fiscal year making it cumulative USD50 million (N15 billion) within the last three years leaving the balance of N39 billion to be shared between 2020 through 2023.

    Notwithstanding the above intervention funds by the federal government through the World Bank and other sources, the sector generates funds internally through registration and certification of mining companies and other investors within the sector and also receives its allocation through the annual budget of the FGN. Although the details of funds allocation to capital expenditure of the sector in the budget document show that there was decrease in the total capital expenditure with 4.79 % in 2018 and 16.99 % in 2019. Rather than increasing the financial strength in capital expenditure of the sector, a lot of frivolous, inappropriate and unclear items were included in the 2019 budget as pointed out by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) Abuja in its analysis of the 2019 Executive Appropriation Bill which is currently before the National Assembly.

    Today the sector has one of the lowest outputs in the Nigerian economy. The mining sector’s contribution to GDP has steadily declined from 5.6 percent in 1980 to about 0.33 percent by 2015, which is significantly lower than other mineral rich countries in the region. In comparison, the mining sector’s contribution to GDP in neighboring states is 6.16 percent in Ghana, eight percent in Mali, 20 percent in Guinea, three percent in Niger, 20 percent in Senegal, and 24 percent in Mauritania.

    With the minute annual allocation to capital expenditure of the sector which continues to decrease almost every year as exemplified above and almost nothing on ground to show for the various intervention funds sank into the sector between 2017 and now, it may be difficult if not impossible for the country to achieve the milestones contained in the roadmap and develop the sector to the level of contributing up to 10% to the country’s GDP.

    The Civil Society Organisations, the media and relevant stakeholders should work closely with the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and other relevant ministries to ensure that FGN achieves its intention of diversifying the economy of the country through the sector. Also, the carryovers or outstanding items in the immediate and the short term of the action items contained in the 2016 policy roadmap for the sector should be merged with the medium term to enable the government achieve its goal of diversification through the sector.

    In conclusion, FGN should create avenues and enabling environments within the sector that will encourage public private partnership to attract both local and foreign investors into the sector.

     

    • Okere Esq. writes from Centre for Social Justice, Abuja.

  • Nigeria earns N43.2b from solid minerals

    The Federal Government earned a total of N43.22billion in 2016 from solid minerals sector, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), said yesterday.

    According to the highlights of the 2016 audit report of the solid minerals sector released by NEITI, taxes collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) accounted for N40.38 billion or 93.43per cent, while fees collected by the Mining Cadastral Office stood at N1.15 billion or 2.66 per cent.

    The Mining Inspectorate Department (MID) recorded N1.64 billion as royalty payments, an increase of 30.15percent over the N1.27 billion reported as royalty payments in 2015.

    According to a statement endorsed by its Director of Communications and Advocacy, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the audit was conducted under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) principles and standard reconciled payments made by mining firms in terms of taxes, royalty and rents against

    From the report, minerals production by companies showed that three companies – Dangote Cement Plc, West African Portland Cement Plc, and United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited (UNICEM) contributed 70per cent of total production in 2016. This shows that the cement sub-sector is still dominant in solid minerals production activities.

    Further analysis of production by minerals types shows that limestone was the most produced mineral and accounted for 49.35percent of the total solid minerals production in 2016, followed by granite with 31.32percent. The least contributions were made by gypsum, iron, talc and amethyst with 0.1per cent each.

    The report also revealed that the solid minerals sector’s contribution to exports  stood at N11.16 billion, representing 3.38per cent of the N330.01 billion for non-oil exports and 0.13 per cent of total export of N8.53trillion.

    From the report, China was a major destination of Nigeria’s solid minerals, accounting for 53.63per cent, followed by Spain and India which accounted for 26.48per cent and 8.90per cent respectively.

    The report put the Free on Board (FoB) value of the solid minerals exported at $40.934 million while the overall contribution of the sector to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) was put at N87.61billion representing 0.13per cent of the total GDP of N67.9 trillion.

    The sector has witnessed a steady, even if marginal increase in its contribution to the GDP from 0.11per cent in 2014, 0.12per cent in 2015 to 0.13per cent in 2016. The sector also contributed 0.3per cent to national employment.

    The report also showed that a total of 4,575 valid minerals titles spread across the various states of the federation were recorded. This comprises 1,751 Exploration Licensces, 208 Mining Leases, 1,563 Quarry Leases, and 1,053 Small Scale Mining Leases.

    Out of the total valid titles in the MCO register, 1,465 titles were issued in 2016 while 1,030 were revoked and 14 were transferred. The report further stated that 315 Exploration Licences were issued in respect of the priority minerals identified by government. The priority minerals are gold, lead-zinc, baryte, iron-ore, bitumen, limestone, and coal.

    The report further showed that some title holders entered into memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with other companies without duly informing the relevant government agencies. As a result, out of the 651 operators that paid royalties, 312 companies representing 48per cent were not recorded in the MCO register either as valid, revoked or transferred titles for the year.

     

  • ‘Why Solid Minerals Fund was restructured’

    The Federal Government has restructured its Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) to accommodate more operators and deepen participation in the sector.

    An aide to the Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr Yinka Oyebode, said the government rjigged access to the fund to enable more operators would benefit from it.

    He said the sector is developing, noting that there are many areas that awaiting exploration.

    In an interview with The Nation, he said the sector will be one of the major revenue earners for the government should the operators and investors show more attention in it.

    He said there are many old and green fields awaiting exploration, urging the operators to firm up the relationship between the Nigerian Mining Geoscience Society (NMGS) sector to deepen activities in the sector.

    He urged stakeholders to pull resources for exploration, adding that the inability of the operators to have a strong forum is affecting geological activities.

    Oyebode said: “If operators  can form a strong and virile body to examine and deliberate on the past, present and future potentials in the nation’s solid minerals sector, they would not find it difficult in assembling funds needed for exploration activities. Besides, they would be able to improve on the export of solid minerals.”

    He said the government is not leaving any stone unturned to harness the potentials in the industry and further make it contribute substantially to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    According to him, the country depends on crude oil to the detriment of solid minerals and other natural resources.

    Oyebode, the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Kayode Fayemi, said the sector boasts of over 40 resources, stressing that many are yet to be discovered.

    He said the resources were spread across the six- geopolitical zones, Southwest, Southeast, Southsouth, Northeast and others. He said many areas have geological prospectivities, urging Nigerians to conduct research in those areas and explore them for growth.

    On World Bank grant, Oyebode said the $150 million will be given to qualified operators by the government. He said operators must show a proven track record of activities, operate in line with the best corporate practices, among meeting other requirements.

    He said the development became necessary to meet the World Bank requirements for the disbursement of funds, stressing that the World Bank would like to know how the money would be spent before it is given it out.

  • Reasons for $600m investments in solid minerals

    The Federal Government is planning to invest $600 million in solid minerals sector, in order to deepen exploration activities, the Minister, Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said.

    Other reasons, he said, include the need to deepen the knowledge of practitioners in the Nigerian mining space, explore both old and green fields, and firming up the relationship between miners and the Nigerian Mining Geoscience Society (NMGS), in order to ensure that the solid minerals reforms are sustainable.

    The government is also planning to facilitate a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), between Nigeria and highly advanced mining countries such as Australia, China, Morocco, South Africa and Britain, with a view to encouraging capacity building and exchange programmes, among the affected nations, he said.

    Speaking at the 2017 edition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Conference in Eko Le’ Meriden Hotel, Lagos recently, Fayemi said the government has also provided N5 billion loan for artisans and miners, as part of efforts to encourage the growth of the sector.

    He said the development became necessary in order to fully harness the potentials in the sector for improved economic growth, adding that the sector is key to the economic diversification programmes of the government.

    He said the government is not leaving any stone unturned to maximise the gains of the sector and further move the economy forward. He spoke on the topic:  Exploitation of Nigeria’s Mineral Resources: Hope for Economic Diversification.

    He said the sector has immense potentials, stressing that the development informed the decision of the government to provide funds for the sector.

    Fayemi said: ‘’ We the ( government) have discovered that the opportunities in soild minerals industry  can match that of the oil and gas sector, if they are well tapped. This informed the plans by the Federal Government to create mining investment funds of $600 million for the sector. The government has reached advance stage on the issue of providing the funds. When the funds are ready, they would cater for the needs of those that engage in mining, exploration and allied areas. The government, has also, partnered with the Bank of Industry (BOI) in order to facilitate a mining fund of N5 billion for the use of artisans and small-scale miners in the sector.’’

    He said Burkina Faso spends $400 million annually to search and explore more solid minerals, as against a situation where Nigeria is voting $100million for the same purpose.

    ‘’Nigeria has earmarked about $100 million for exploration activities, being the largest percentage of the money realised so far in the sector. Even at that, Nigeria is behind Burkina Faso and other jurisdictions in this area. For instance, Burkina Faso, is believed to be spending $400 million annually for geological prospectivity, as against Nigeria, which earmarked about $100 million for the same purpose’’ he added.

  • Fed Govt, others share N9.9b solid minerals revenue

    Fed Govt, others share N9.9b solid minerals revenue

    Minister for Mines and Steel Development and Chairman, National Stakeholders’ Working Group (NSWG) of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (NEITI), Kayode Fayemi, has said the N9.9billion revenue generated directly from solid minerals was shared among the three tiers of government in July, 2017.

    He said NEITI’s intervention through recommendations in solid minerals audit report, led to the sharing of monies from the sector by the three tiers of government and other beneficiaries in line with section 162 of the 1999 constitution on derivation.

    He stated this during the NEITI South West Zonal Outreach and Stakeholders’ engagement meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State. The minster who was represented by a member of the NSWG of NEITI, LawanLantewa, also revealed the ministry had received the sum of N30billion from the Natural Resources Development Fund for exploration, research, geosciences data generation and improved mines field security.

  • Govt to disburse $150m solid minerals grants

    The Federal Government has concluded plans for the disbursement of the $150 million World Bank grant to solid mineral sector operators.

    Part of the procedures includes vetting applications from operators who applied for the grant, in line with the rules as advertised and published in national dailies.

    The procedures are to determine the eligibility of the applicants, examine their impacts on the sector and see whether their purposes for seeking the funds tally with the aspirations of the World Bank to grow economies, among others.

    Minister of Solid Minerals Development Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, said making the grant accessible for operators had reached an advanced stage, adding that the grants would be disbursed soon.

    He described operators with tangible evidence as those that have proven track records of performance in the sector, while operators at the principal mining areas were those mining strategic minerals.

    He said the government wanted operators with tangible evidence of operation as well as those working in principal mining areas to benefit from the facility.

    According to him, due process is being followed, in order to ensure that the right operators get the fund.

    Oyebode said the government was carrying out investigations to determine the eligibility of those that applied for financial or material assistance, which the World Bank provided the sector in the second quarter of this year.

    Oyebode said: “Many people may be wondering, why the grants have not been disbursed to the operators since it was issued by World Bank months ago. The answer is simple. World Bank prides itself as a reputable financial institution that meets the needs of operators in developed and developing economies by providing either grants or aids or loans to them, while at the same time ensuring that the funds were judiciously spent by the receiving nations or sectors.

    “The Federal Government, which received the grants on behalf of the operators in the solid minerals, is not ready to work at cross-purpose with the World Bank, hence the decision to provide the grants to suitable operators in the sector. That is the reason for the delay in providing the fund to the operators. But I can assure you that the government would disburse the loans to qualified operators very soon.”

    According to him, using grants or any other assistance for the purpose they are intended is the World Bank’s philosophy.

    “The global financial body has done it in critical sectors such as power, agriculture and others and it ensured that the funds were utilised. The bank will not give the money cash to the operators, who applied for it. Rather, it helps an operator or sector to get the equipment needed for his operation, as contained in the agreements, which he has signed. For instance, if an operator in the solid minerals sector needs a particular technology, what the World Bank does is that it would help the operator gets the technology, and not to give him the money. This is contrary to a situation whereby the bank would give cash to the operator in form of loan to purchase the technology,” he said.