The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Ford Foundation diagnostics report on Nigeria’s mining governance, landscape and prospects has declared that the sector is performing below expectation.
The report takes a look at the Nigerian solid minerals industry and what needs to be done to transform it into an economically viable sector, the NESG said in a statement made available to Daily Trust on Sunday yesterday.
Part of the statement reads: “The current state of the sector, however, is not appealing. The sector contributes meagerly to the nation’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP), at 0.5 per cent (2018), performing unsatisfactorily compared to some of its solid mineral resource-rich African counterparts.
“Its employment-generation potential is also far from being realised, given its contribution of 0.3 per cent to national employment and 0.2 per cent to total export.
“A minerals-abundant nation, Nigeria is endowed with over 40 different solid mineral types found in about 450 locations scattered across the country.”
The report added that several factors contributed to “this grim performance”, among them are widespread illegal mining due to a weak regulatory environment at the federal and state levels, as well as infrastructural challenges.
Underscoring opportunities for growth, the report said the sector was projected to drive the government’s diversification agenda at a scale capable of supporting the pulling of 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030.
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