The Minister of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD), Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite has expressed willingness to collaborate with Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG), in order to fully realize the mandate of the Ministry for national economic growth.
The Minister made this known when the Head of Energy and Natural Resources, KPMG, Mr. Ayo Salami and his team paid him a courtesy visit at the Ministry’s Headquarters, Abuja, recently.
While welcoming the visitors, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, urged them to engage in meaningful interaction with the Management of the ministry for background information on the ministry as well as gain fruitful knowledge of its policies and programmes.
Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, acknowledged the proposed collaboration KPMG has offered the Ministry for the development of the Mineral and Metals Sector and looked forward to a strong relationship with the Ministry for the realization of economic diversification of the Federal Government.
Leader of the KPMG delegation, Mr Ayo Salami stated that their purpose of coming to Ministry was to share their thoughts about the industry on how well to relate with its operators.
He commended the effort made by the ministry through the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project, NIMEP, and for ensuring improved transmission of the Mining Cadastral Office (MCO).
He also acknowledged improvement and transparency in mineral licensing regime as well as the launch of the Electronic Mining Cadastre (EMC+) system as well as the Mining Sector Roadmap that has resulted to a surge in mineral exploration in the Industry.
Mr Salami, however, urged the Ministry to enhance the Mining Roadmap by working with relevant gold agencies to harmonize and develop some financial incentives in order to attract relevant miners into the country. Such harmonization, he said, will bring clarity to operators, particularly, to foreign investors who are ready to come into the Nigeria mining space.
He also recommended that activities of illegal miners should be curbed as it has adversely affected the growth of the Sector. He decried the low contribution of Mining to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), adding that adequate steps should be taken to utilize available mining strategies for the development of the industry.
