The Nigerian Government is collaborating with the United Kingdom to set up a joint technical working group for the development of critical mineral deposits in the country.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, announced the partnership in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Wednesday in Abuja.
DAILY POST reports that the partnership followed a meeting between Alake and the UK Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, on the sidelines of the Mines and Money conference in London in December, 2023.
A delegation of the British High Commission led by Deputy High Commissioner, Johnny Baxter, paid a visit to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development on Tuesday to fine tune details of the collaboration.
According to Alake, the partnership will culminate in investments in the mining sector value chain.
He said that President Bola Tinubu administration was determined to improve the ease of doing business in the mining sector.
This, according to him, would be done through the establishment of new security architecture for natural resources.
He noted that the administration was also establishing an efficient governance structure by creating a Nigerian Mining Corporation led by the private sector.
The minister restated the commitment of the government to sanitise and reposition the mining sector towards boosting its capacity to contribute substantially to the nation’s revenue.
Nigerian Govt partners UK on minerals development