Economy
World Bank Backs Nigeria’s Mining Sector with $150m
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.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
