Nigeria to offer investors 75% stake in proposed solid minerals firm
Nigeria
plans to offer investors at least a 75 per cent stake in a proposed solid
minerals corporation. Dele Alake, solid minerals minister, said
on Tuesday, as lawmakers draft legislation to create the new state-backed firm
to wean the West African country from its reliance on oil.
Africa's
top energy producer has struggled to extract value from its vast mineral
resources due to poor incentives and neglect. The underdeveloped mining sector
contributes less than 1% of the country's gross domestic product.
The
government will hold no more than a 25 per cent stake in the proposed. The minister
said, leaving the rest to private investors and the publica.
Lawmakers
are considering folding moribund state-owned miners, the National Iron-Ore
Company and Bitumen Concessioning Programme, into the new corporation and
creating a special mines police force to tackle rampant illegal mining, Alake
said.
The
corporation will help attract investments to extract gold, coal, iron-ore,
bitumen, lead, baryte and lead, he said in September when the plan was first
made public.
At
least 499 licences have been issued to companies and individuals to buy and
sell minerals, Alake said. Applications for lithium topped the list at 146,
followed by gold at 91, he added.
The
government is trying to regulate artisanal miners who dominate the sector by
grouping them into cooperatives to bid for licenses, Alake said. So far, 2,329
of them have been registered into cooperatives.
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