By John Ikani
The Federal Government of Nigeria has promised 100% ownership of investments to investors who invest in Nigeria’s mining sector. The Government said that the idea of allowing both local and foreign mining investors to own 100% of mineral mined, is part of its incentives to attract investors into the mining sector.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD), Olamilekan Adegbite made the offer while briefing newsmen on the forthcoming 6th edition of the Nigeria Mining Week on Tuesday in Abuja.
The 2021 Mining Week which is expected to hold from November 16 to November 17, has the theme: “Seven reasons to invest in Nigerian Mining”.
According to the Minister, Nigeria is still fresh in mining and as such, the Government needs to encourage mining investors to invest in Nigeria to enjoy the maximum benefit of the country’s greenfield resources.
“Some foreign mining investors are not aware that Nigeria is a mining nation; we want them to come and invest in Nigerian mining as our incentives are good compared to other mining nations.
“Our royalty is the lowest compared to other mining nations, we charge 3.5 per cent, while other mining nations charge 17 to 20 per cent depending on the mineral mined,” he said.
Some of the incentives for mining investors include, holder of a mineral title is guaranteed free transferability of funds through the CBN and three years tax holidays to serious investors among others.
He said that this year’s mining week would be a virtual event, adding that it would bring together mining investors, governors, some ministers and the event would be declared open by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
On his part, the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Dr Uchechukwu Ogah, said that this year’s mining week would be purely an investment programme that would yield a lot of benefits for the nation.
