- The shift from hydrocarbon to renewable energy would be by tapping into Nigeria’s vastly untapped and unregulated solid minerals sector.
- The minister said there is a need to diversify to other viable sources of revenue to shore up the country’s GDP.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has said the federal government is shifting its attention from hydrocarbon to renewable energy. He said the solid minerals underground are a perfect alternative. Alake also said since Nigeria has been a mono-cultural economy for several decades, there is a need to diversify to other viable sources of revenue to shore up the country’s GDP.
The minister said the shift from hydrocarbon to renewable energy is by tapping into Nigeria’s vastly untapped and unregulated solid minerals sector. In a press release, the Deputy Director of Information for the Ministry, Alaba Balogun, said Alake made the statement during an interview with the African news media CNBC.
The statement read in part, “Alake stated that his recent advocacy visit to the Australian Perth conference on mining was to market Nigeria as a destination for mining in Africa and globally. He said he canvassed the Nigerian government’s deliberate policies and plans to attract local and foreign investors to the sector by establishing, amongst others, the Nigerian Mining Corporation as a particular-purpose vehicle to engage in joint ventures with multinationals.
“To bolster the shift to mining, the minister said, Nigeria is shifting attention from hydrocarbon to renewable energy, and the solid minerals underground is a perfect alternative. Secondly, since we have been a mono-cultural economy for several decades, there is the imperative to look for other very viable sources of revenue to shore up the GDP of the country, and where also could we look but the vastly untapped and unregulated solid minerals sector that is available to us.
“Elaborating further, the minister said he seized the opportunity to assure investors that the Tinubu administration will promote public-private partnerships to finance essential infrastructures and consistent capacity building.”