The federal government would soon make available an intervention fund to be accessed by serious-minded operators in the mining sector.
Kayode Fayemi, minister of mines and steel development, disclosed this while addressing participants at the opening of the National Council on Finance and Economic Development (NACOFED), which held Tuesday at Abeokuta in Ogun State.
According to a statement released Wednesday by Olayinka Oyebode, the minister’s special assistant on media, the planned intervention fund would be sourced from the National Resource Fund.
He did not state how much money would be set aside for qualified mining operators, but BusinessDay gathered that the National Resource Fund is 1.6 per cent of money in the federation account that is set aside for agriculture, solid minerals and water resources.
“President Mohammadu Buhari has given approval to the ministry of mines and steel development to access part of the fund,” the statement further read.
The minister’s paper at the conference was titled “The Non-oil Sector as a sustainable alternative in enhancing revenue generation”, in which he was optimistic that access to the mining intervention fund coupled with funding to be provided by Nigerian banks would help lift the sector.
Fayemi lamented that the past administration had denied the sector the opportunity to access the Natural Resource Fund which, according to him, was used for some other fraudulent causes other than the purpose for which it was set up.
Speaking further, he also announced that state governments are now beneficiaries of the 13 percent derivation from mining revenue.
“This is a significant shift, that signposts our commitment to facilitating a win-win situation for all stakeholders”, the minister further stressed.
In deepening the ministry’s partnership with the state government, Fayemi said arrangements have been concluded to establish a council of mining and mineral resources, which would be a quarterly forum involving the minister, commissioners responsible for mining and natural resources at the states as well as other relevant government officials.
“The forum would be an avenue to discuss pertinent issues on the mining sector, which is of concern to the federal and state governments. It will also allow us to track progress on agreed areas of collaboration”, Fayemi assured.
He also unfolded the ministry’s plan to set up zonal offices of the Mining Cadastral Office so that its operations get closer to the states.
According to him, “finally, we will equally work with states to find commercial means for them to co-invest alongside private companies to bring mining assets to market faster and more profitably.”
The minister assured state governments that the right regulative frameworks were being put in place to ensure that investors comply with global best practices in resource extraction by integrating all relevant protocols on environmental conversation in the conduct of mining and all related business.
“This is why ecological justice is one of the major planks of our approach to the re-positioning of the solid minerals sector,” he concluded.
