Economy

World Bank Backs Nigeria’s Mining Sector with $150m

Published

8 years ago

22/12/2016

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Nigeria’s Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has secured a $150 million support from the World Bank for the Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification (MSSED or MinDiver) programme.

According to the Minister, Mr Kayode Fayemi, “We have secured support from the World Bank for the funding of $150 million Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification MSSED programme.”

He explained that a critical component of the support is to provide technical assistance for the restructuring and operationalisation of the Solid Minerals Development Mining Investment Fund, which would make finance available to ASM operators through development finance, micro-finance and leasing institutions.

Mr Fayemi, addressing newsmen in his 2016 end of year ministerial briefing and projections for 2017 in Abuja on Monday, said the Ministry was working with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and other institutions to assemble a $600 million investment fund for the sector by first quarter of 2017.

He spoke of plans for the mining sector new year, at the event which also featured the commissioning of 38 surveillance vehicles bought for mines officers, valued at about N322 million.

He said “The fund will also help to bring back on stream previously abandoned proven mining projects like tin ore, iron ore, coal, gold and lead-zinc among others.”

Mr Fayemi said the sector has witnessed some positive developments and productivity in the last one year, including a major improvement in the ministry’s contribution to the Federation Account to about N2 billion n in 2016, up from N700 million in 2015.

He added that increased productivity in the mining space had also led to significant discovery of mineral deposits, notably the large find of high-grade nickel a few months ago in Dangoma, Kaduna State by an Australian mining company operating in Nigeria.

The Minister further revealed that government had constructed 10 Prototype Mineral Buying Centres across the country for specific strategic industrial minerals.

“The centres are to serve as standardisation centres to enable ASM Cooperatives and operators receive fair premium for their labour. With renewed determination to strengthen collaborative efforts with State governments in natural resource governance, the PMBCs are being ceded to state governments,” he said

Mr Fayemi recalled that he had identified some challenges, including lack of geological data, weak institutional capacity and limited supporting infrastructure during his inaugural ministerial briefing on December 21, 2015, said he the ministry has recorded some remarkable achievements in tackling those challenges.

The Minister also inaugurated the Mining Implementation Strategy Team (MIST). Composition to be chaired by the Chairman, Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, Prof. Olugbenga Okunlola and Coordinated by the Special Adviser to the Minister on Policy and Strategy Prof. Okey Onyejekwe.

Presenting their Terms of Reference (TOR) the Minister said “these includes developing a logical framework matrix that spells out priorities, key performance indicators (KPIs),targets/benchmarks, time lines and result based action plans.

Others include developing a framework for monitoring and evaluating the implementation process and progress, developing resource base mobilisation, developing accountability framework and communication strategy for communicating the implementation process and progress.

While commissioning the surveillance vehicles, the Minister who remarked that that was the first time the ministry would procure such a large fleet of surveillance vehicles, urged the Mines Officers to use the vehicles and other surveillance gadgets to ensure effective inspection of mines activities.

The commissioning was witnessed by the Minister of State, Mr Abubakar Bawa Bwari, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr Mohammed Abbas; the wife of Kebbi State Governor, Hajia Zainab Atiku Bagudu; and Commissioner for Commerce, Zamfara State, Hajia Fatima Umaru Shinkafi.

The Minister said: “The execution of this vehicle procurement project is therefore a clear demonstration of the commitment of this administration to our strategic goal of repositioning the Mining sector for greater productivity. One of our objectives is to strengthen our ministry with the requisite capacity and capabilities to deliver on our mandate to effectively regulate the sector”, he added.

Mr Fayemi stated that the fleet of vehicles cost Government about N322 million, which is no small expenditure in view of competing priorities.

He said the purchase of the vehicles has successfully addressed the challenge of the absence of logistical support for field operations of the technical departments of the Ministry. The progress will result in scaling up the capacity of the departments for effective discharge of their statutory duties and functions.

The Minister said beginning from January 2017, he expect to start seeing the positive impact of the investment in terms of increased revenue generation, reduction in number of illegal mining incidences, fewer cases of conflicts arising from mining activities, and timely rendering of periodic reports of mining activities from respective field stations.

He warned officers to use the vehicles strictly for the official duties they are meant for and on no reason should the vehicles be used for unofficial purposes except with express approval. He said to discourage arbitrary use of the vehicles other than the discharge of official duties, the vehicles have been installed with tracking devices that will enable the Ministry monitor their movements centrally from Abuja. That any officer that runs afoul of the ethical use of the vehicles shall be dealt with in accordance with relevant Civil Service Rules.

The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development Mr Abubakar Bawa Bwari in a vote of thanks commended the Mr Fayemi for the passion shorn for the mining industry, the National Assembly for their understanding and cooperation for the industry, the Security Agencies for their cooperation and all stakeholders especially the International partners and Agencies and the Media for their support.

Economy

Nigeria Led Africa’s Upstream Oil, Gas Investments in 2024

Published

12 hours ago

21/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria ranked as Africa’s leading destination for upstream oil and gas investment in 2024, new research from market intelligence firm, Wood Mackenzie, has shown, accounting for three out of four Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) announced by global oil and gas majors, totaling $13.5 billion.

The FIDs announced within the Nigerian market included Shell’s $122 million investment in the Iseni Gas Project, TotalEnergies’ $566 million commitment to the Ubeta Gas Project and Shell’s approval of the Bonga North Tranche 1 project valued at around $5 billion.

According to the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Ms Olu Verheijen, these investments reflected Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to unlock its hydrocarbon potential through investor-friendly policies and strategic global partnerships.

Last year, Nigeria introduced several initiatives to create a conducive environment for oil and gas investors, including new tax incentives aimed at attracting up to $10 billion in natural gas investments.

Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest oil producer, also offered tax relief for gas investors, reducing corporate income tax and extending capital allowance benefits – for deepwater gas projects.

Other policies include the Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements 2024 to address the reduction in oil and gas investments caused by high operating costs compared to global markets.

Also, the Presidential Directive on Reduction of Petroleum Sector Contracting Costs and Timelines 2024 reduces the time spent to award contracts for oil and gas projects.

In addition to the directives, Nigeria also launched its 2024 oil and gas licensing round, offering 19 blocks for exploration, demonstrating its commitment to continued collaboration with local, regional and international partners.

Market analysts note that with this momentum, further FIDs are anticipated, including TotalEnergies’ expected $750 million commitment to the Ima Shallow Gas Project in 2025.

Economy

UBN Property Triggers 0.22% Loss at NASD OTC Exchange

Published

15 hours ago

21/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.22 per cent decline on Monday, January 20, with the market capitalisation shedding N2.35 billion to close at N1.073 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N1.075 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) going down by 6.79 points to wrap the session at 3,105.12 points compared with 3,111.91 points recorded in the previous session.

It was observed that the loss recorded on the first trading day of the week was triggered by UBN Property Plc, which crashed by 20 Kobo to trade at N2.00 per share versus last Friday’s N2.20 per share.

However, the share price of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc went up by 4 Kobo to 40 Kobo per unit from 36 Kobo per unit, it could not stop the bourse from going down at the close of transactions.

The activity chart showed that on Monday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 57.9 per cent to 767,610 units from the 486,215 units traded in the preceding session, while the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 17.7 per cent to N2.3 million from the N2.8 million recorded in the preceding trading day, as the number of deals declined by 14.3 per cent to 12 deals from the 14 deals carried out in the previous trading day.

At the close of transactions, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with a turnover of 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and 11 Plc with the sale of 55,358 for N14.5 million.

Also, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 25.3 million units sold for N5.9 million, Geo-Fluids Plc came next with 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million.

Economy

Naira Weakens to N1,550/$1 at Official Market, Gains N5 at Black Market

Published

16 hours ago

21/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira weakened against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, January 20 amid FX pressures associated with this period.

Most people who came into the country for Christmas and New Year holidays are already going back and are in need of forex, putting pressure on the local currency.

Also, the poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to end to the 42-day access granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators to buy forex at official price.

According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the Nigerian Naira lost 0.16 per cent or N2.47 on the greeback yesterday to sell at N1,550.05/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s rate of N1,547.58/$1.

Similarly, the Naira slumped against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on Monday by N23.39 to trade at N1,906.98/£1 versus N1,883.59/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N23.14 to sell for N1,613.48/€1 compared with last Friday’s N1,590.34/€1.

However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the Dollar during the session by N5 to quote at N1,665/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,670/$1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it turned red yesterday as the US President, Mr Donald Trump, didn’t bring up the much-expected subject of crypto in his inauguration speech on Monday afternoon.

Mr Trump had promised a far more friendly crypto policy stance than the previous administration but in the long speech that announced his plans in the coming days, he didn’t make mention of Bitcoin or crypto.

Just over the weekend, the President ignited a speculative frenzy with the Friday evening launch of the Trump meme coin, which was shortly followed by a meme coin associated with his wife, Melania.

Dogecoin (DOGE) crumbled yesterday by 6.3 per cent to $0.3419, Solana (SOL) slumped by 4.7 per cent to $235.32, Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to $0.9777, and Litecoin (LTC) moderated by 1.9 per cent to $114.98.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.7 per cent to $3,241.36, Binance Coin (BNB) retreated by 1.4 per cent to $693.30, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 1.2 per cent to $3.06, and Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.8 per cent to $101,746.99, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.