The permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), Alhaji Abdulkadir Musa, has charged the nation’s solid minerals sector to strive to improve its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP).
He noted that Nigeria has abundant mineral endowments to compete favourably with the South African mining sector which contributes 18.7 per cent to its over $365 GDP.
Speaking in his keynote address at a one-day Sensitisation Forum on Solid Minerals organised by the Bank of Industry (BOI) in Abuja, recently, the permanent secretary reiterated that the sector must aspire to contribute between 5-10 per cent to the GDP.
In his words, “We should aspire to achieve 5-10 per cent contribution from the solid minerals sector to the GDP within the next two years.”
Musa added that the federal government had put in place various policies, including the Solid Mineral Development Policy 2007 and the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), as a means of creating an investor-friendly environment for players in the sector. He said that the Bureau of Statistics had in the report on the Nigerian mining and quarrying sector released in January 2014 shown that the sector had contributed 0.09 per cent to the GDP within the period. He assured that as the nation seeks to diversify into non-oil base sectors, the FMITI will continue to work with the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to provide the necessary incentives and support to investors in the sector.
Also commending the efforts of the BOI as a leading development finance institution, the permanent secretary said, “We are witnesses to the various laudable endeavours of the bank targeted at converting Nigeria’s competitiveness in a bid to develop the Nigerian economy and create wealth for its citizens.”
He maintained that “the bank had been consistent in providing financial and business support services to micro, small medium and large enterprises.”