The Federal Government has said ongoing sectoral engagements represent a strategic integration platform aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s participation within both African and global mining ecosystems.
It explained that ongoing reforms are focused on strengthening policy frameworks while ensuring strict compliance with environmental standards by mining operators.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Faruk Yusuf Yabo, disclosed this in Abuja, during a validation workshop on Nigeria’s alignment with continental mining standards, describing the engagement as a critical platform for repositioning the country within Africa’s evolving mining ecosystem.
The workshop brought together key actors from government institutions, the private sector, and academia to collectively chart a sustainable pathway for the growth of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.
Yabo said: ‘This serves as one of the key integration platforms for Nigerians as we position ourselves within the African continental and indeed the global mining industry. It is encouraging that players from both the public and private sectors, as well as academics, are gathered here to discuss one central issue, how to move the Nigerian solid minerals sector forward.
‘Through fair lending mechanisms and sound policies, we will be able to establish systems that attract financing into the sector. What we are doing is strengthening policy and regulatory frameworks while ensuring that mining operators comply with required environmental standards’.
He added that improved governance structures supported by credible sectoral data would enhance Nigeria’s competitiveness among African mining nations and boost investor confidence.
He added, ‘All these efforts will place Nigeria on the right pedestal, supported by reliable data that investors can assess. This will enable Nigeria to move forward alongside other African countries in mining development’.
Yabo also commended development partners, particularly the African Union and the French Development Agency, for supporting Nigeria’s ongoing mining sector reforms.
Also speaking, Director-General of the Mining Cadastre Office, Obadiah Simon Nkom, described Nigeria’s participation in the validation exercise as a landmark achievement linked to continental reforms under the African Mining Vision.
Nkom said: ‘This validation represents a major achievement. It aligns Nigeria with the African Mining Vision and confirms our commitment to positioning Nigeria as a strategic mining nation’.
He noted that reforms undertaken in recent years, including regulatory reviews and policy adjustments, have significantly strengthened governance structures within the sector.
According to him, sustainable mining development rests on three pillars: people, technology, and systems.
‘Nigeria already has the institutional and legal frameworks developed over time; what remains is to build upon them’, he added.
Nkom highlighted the full digitisation of Nigeria’s mining cadastral administration, noting that the system is now web-based and accessible to investors globally.
‘Today, the mining cadastral system is fully digitalised and web-based. Investors anywhere in the world can submit applications and interact with the system at any time’, he said.
He further disclosed that the Nigerian Mineral Resources Decision Support System now operates as an integrated one-stop platform combining sectoral data management and licensing processes.
Nigeria’s emergence as the 11th African country to complete the validation exercise, he said, reflects deliberate efforts to reposition the country within Africa’s mining landscape.
‘With our favourable geology and mineral endowment, the objective is to translate these resources into investments, job creation, and broader economic benefits for Nigerians’, Nkom added.
In his remarks, Head of the African Minerals Development Centre, Tunde Arisekola, explained that the assessment forms part of technical support services provided by the African Union to evaluate member states’ compliance with continental mining development pillars.
He identified Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) as an area requiring further improvement due to the large number of Nigerians operating within the segment.
He said: ‘This is one of the services delivered by the African Union to member states. Essentially, what we are doing is assessing how far Nigeria complies with the agreed African mining development pillars.
‘The emphasis on ASM is important because the majority of our people are involved in it. The objective is not to displace them but to organise, train, and retrain them so they can benefit more from mining activities’.
Arisekola noted that preliminary findings show Nigeria performing strongly in geological data management and transparency frameworks despite prevailing public perceptions.
He added that while institutional structures already exist, scaling implementation remains necessary to maximise sectoral benefits.
Speaking earlier, a geologist and consultant with the African Minerals Development Centre, Pade Davies, said Nigeria currently falls within the ‘satisfactory progress’ category among African mining nations.
Davies said: ‘The assessment shows that Nigeria is at the satisfactory progress stage, which indicates that we are an emerging mining country when compared with established mining jurisdictions.
‘In most cases, the institutional and legal frameworks already exist. The key gaps identified relate to implementation. Addressing this will enable Nigeria to move to higher performance levels’.
Davies stressed that effective management of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources could accelerate industrialisation and economic diversification.
He noted that the mining sector currently contributes less than one per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product but is projected to rise to about three percent as reforms deepen under national development roadmaps.
