The 2nd Abuja Business Forum, organized to harness business opportunity in the nation’s capital held yesterday with focus on the mining sector.
The forum with the theme, ‘Unveiling Opportunities in the Nigerian Mining Sector for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth,’ organized by the Abuja Enterprise Agency, was attended by stakeholders in the mining sector, young entrepreneurs, business owners, representative of relevant government agencies as well as those from the financial sector.
The FCTA Permanent Secretary, Olusade Adesola, represented by the FCTA Director of Solid Minerals and Allied Matters, Engr. Niyi Olaloye, noted that the FCT is home to abundant mineral resources whose potential have not been fully explored.
He said while this is not peculiar to the FCT, it has occasioned the need to rally around stakeholders in the mining sector to develop a roadmap that will unlock the rich opportunities therein.
According to the permanent secretary, the FCT Administration is a firm believer in the huge potentials of Nigerian entrepreneurs, with the belief that the mining sector offers vast opportunities to address many of the socio-economic challenges Nigeria faces, such as unemployment, poverty, and inequalities.
“This has necessitated our intervention in the MSMEs sub-sector by our desire to create jobs, generate wealth and alleviate poverty towards creating a prosperous and inclusive society,’’ he said.
Earlier, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of AEA, Mallam Shehu Abdulkadir, explained that the mining sector had a lot of potential, but Nigeria is yet to benefit from the potential because it has not properly tapped.
He said that as an enterprise development agency, they decided to venture into the mining industry because of the queries they have gotten from members of the public.
Also, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Mines and Steels, Mary Igbeh, who was represented by a director in the ministry, Imeh Ogidigbo, said that Nigeria needs to annex the mining sector to tap from its potential with determination, commitment and every available opportunity.
City & Crime reports that the 1st edition of the Business Forum focused on the fashion industry where stakeholders in the industry were provided with networking opportunity which attracted access to finance.
By Hussein Yahaya & Hauwa Abubakar
