NACCIMA wants FG to set up minerals development bank

Jan 31
The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture asked the Federal Government to create to funding agencies for the development of the solid minerals sub-sector of the economy in the country.
According to the President of NACCIMA, Dr. Simon Chukwuemeka Okolo, the funding agencies are to be in the forms of Solid Minerals Venture Risk Fund and a specialised Minerals Development Bank.
Okolo, who stated this during the association's 49th Annual Conference in Abuja on Wednesday, said the two agencies would aid the realisation of the nation's great potential in the solid minerals sub-sector in Nigeria.
He also called for government's support for the sector through government guarantees and grants as well as robust advocacy and awareness campaigns on the vast potential in the nation's minerals.
He said geological survey had shown positive indication on the existence of economic mineral deposits criss-crossing the six geopolitical zones of the country.
"It is, therefore, disturbing that despite this encouraging discovery, Nigeria has continued to remain a mono-cultural economy based on crude oil exploration and exploitation, thereby neglecting this sub-sector, which is equally capable of generating as much foreign exchange earnings as does crude oil, if given the much needed attention and investment," he stated.
He listed the available solid minerals in the country to include kaolin, barite, limestone, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, iron-ore, lead-zinc deposits, tin, quartz, feldspar, beryl, coal, tourmaline, clay, sand, bentonite, wolframite, phosphate, and diatomite to mention but a few.