Nigeria and UK agree to form joint working group to tap into potential of solid minerals sector

NIGERIA and the UK have resolved to form a joint technical working group to harmonise partnerships for the development of solid mineral deposits as part of an ongoing plan to diversify the nation's economy.

At the moment, Nigeria is over-dependent on crude oil for its survival, with petroleum export receipts accounting for over 90% of federal government revenue. To get away from this, especially given the volatility of the global crude oil market, the Nigerian government has been continuously trying to diversify its economy, with solid minerals being one sector always under review.

Late last year, the UK deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden met with Nigeria's minister of solid minerals development Dele Alake, on the sidelines of the Mines and Money Conference, in London, where he expressed his country’s interest in Nigeria’s lithium sector. As a follow-up to that parley, a British delegation led by deputy high commissioner Johnny Baxter, paid a courtesy visit to the minister in his office in Abuja.

Reiterating his home country’s readiness to fine-tune details of collaboration that will culminate in investments in the mining sector value chain, Mr Baxter said the UK is willing to work with Nigeria on the project. While welcoming the British delegation, the minister stressed that the Tinubu administration is improving the ease of doing business in the mining sector through a new security architecture for natural resources and installing an efficient governance structure through the establishment of a private-sector led Nigerian Mining Corporation.

Mr Baxter said: “The efforts of the minister to give visibility to the mining sector has attracted the attention of the international community and we have agreed to follow through with a joint technical working group that will herald the partnership and foster investment in the mining sector."

Among those on the British delegation were political counsellor at the high commission Tom Burge, senior political adviser at the mission Wale Adebajo and trade market access lead at the UK Department for Business and Trade Simeon Umukoro. It is expected that the move will lead to British investment in the Nigerian solid minerals sector soon.