Nigeria is still a greenfield with 44 mineral types -Minister

Nigeria is still essentially a greenfield with 44 mineral types and some of the highest grades of minerals anywhere in the world, the minister of state for Mines and Steel, Abubakar Bawa Bwari, has said.

This was contained in the minister’s speech at the ongoing Mines and Money conference holding in London.

The minister also stated that foreign investors planning to invest in Nigeria’s mining sector will get 3-5 years tax holiday.

“Now, you can business, bring in without paying any years tax holiday.

“We also allow free transferability of funds, deductibility of environmental costs and permission to retain and use earned foreign exchange,” he stated.

He further said that strategic minerals of the future like nickel, cobalt, lithium, graphite, copper and rare earth elements hidden beneath Nigeria’s soil must be unearthed, exploited and brought to the market through a concise mineral policy that promotes transparency and sustainable mining.

“We have since revamped our policies, and our mining industry is now completely private sector driven with government acting as facilitator and regulator,” Bwari said.

He said government is constantly upgrading and expanding its data base to de-risk the Nigerian mining jurisdiction and make its potentials more palatable to investors.