- Both countries resolved to set up a joint technical committee to follow through in areas of partnership for the solid minerals mining sector development.
- This development of solid minerals is part of the plan to transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy.
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have resolved to strengthen collaboration between both countries to enhance the development of solid minerals. This development comes as the world transitions from fossil fuels to cleaner energy. The countries made the commitment during a meeting on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake and his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Bandar AlKhorayef, led the delegations of both countries to the bilateral meeting.
In his remarks, Alake dwelt on the need to forge partnerships, emphasising that the global energy transition was contingent on critical minerals, which exist in abundance in Nigeria. Throwing light on incentives for investment, Alake cited a policy of President Bola Tinubu on repatriation of profits by foreign investors, tax waivers on imported equipment directed explicitly at the mining sector, and a rejigged security architecture which he hinted will soon come on stream.
“We need a lot of investments in exploration, exploitation, extraction, processing, and local value addition. We realise that we must look at regions outside of Africa to collaborate, further consolidate, and enhance our capacity to explore and exploit our natural resources. For us to maximally utilise, exploit, and derive maximum revenue for our own economic and infrastructural development, we need to have a very solid partnership with nations like Saudi Arabia.” Afterwards, both countries resolved to set up a joint technical committee to oversee the partnership. This is coupled with a workable action plan, guided by timelines, to harness areas of comparative advantage for mining sector development.