The Federal Government of Nigeria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would be collaborating to enhance the development of solid minerals in the country.
This collaboration is being embarked upon as the world transitions from fossil fuels to cleaner energy.
The agreement was made at a meeting on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr. Dele Alake, and his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Bandar AlKhorayef, led the delegations of both countries to the bilateral meeting.
Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Segun Tomori in a press statement said Alake harped on the need to forge the partnership, emphasizing that global energy transition is contingent on critical minerals, which he stated exist in abundance in Nigeria.
“We need a lot of investments in exploration, exploitation, extraction, processing, and local value addition. We realize that we must look at regions outside of Africa to collaborate, further consolidate, and enhance our capacity to explore and exploit the natural resources that we have. For us to maximally utilize, 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.
“Saudi Arabia has always displayed good affinity to Nigeria, and it is historical. We have always been desirous of reciprocating this very positive gesture, and there is no better area to ensure that reciprocity than to ensure we consolidate our partnerships in areas of economic development. We are willing and open to investments in Nigeria, especially in the mining sector,” the minister said.
