Minister, CBN to raise funds for mining sector

The Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development on Tuesday said it was discussing with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to raise funds for investors in the mining sector. The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Musa Sada, made the announcement at a workshop, organised by the Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG) in Abuja.

“I have met with the governor of the CBN to discuss financial assistance to investors in the sector. Some of these banks we are seeking financial assistance from are Fidelity, IBTC, First Bank and Wema to establish desk officers in their various offices to help investors in the sector. Also we are trying to introduce some mining financial courses in our universities,” he said. Sada urged agencies under the ministry to organise their training in a way that it would be graded from one level to another, so that when one passed he would move to another level.

He explained that participants at the workshop would acquire skills in producing bankable reports, exploration and would also be exposed to improve mineral processing techniques. Earlier, the Chairman of COMEG, Mr Chamberlain Oyibo, said the sector unlike oil and gas was under-funded. Oyibo said that the training was in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s vision 20:20:20 directive to the council to commence a mandatory professional development programme for its professionals. He explained that the training was to improve professionalism in the industry and facilitate human capacity development, to enable the country provide at least 50 per cent of manpower in the sector.