The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite on Thursday, said the National Geodata Centre of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency will improve the visibility of the investment potential of the country’s mining sector, stating that the Centre will work in synergy with the National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (NSRMEA), and related establishments to enhance accessibility of geoscience data on Nigeria.
The minister, who spoke during the commissioning of the National Geodata Centre, in Abuja, said expressed delight that the milestone was achieved within his tenure in office, said what the development means is that Nigeria is now fully prepared to showcase its rich mineral potential and attract local and international investors to the sector for the overall growth of the economy.
According to him, renowned mining countries, such as Australia, Canada, Namibia in Africa, are successful due to their policy of open access to geoscience data, adding that a Geodata Centre represents the long-term national geoscience knowledge-base, which is essential for identifying the mineral potential of a country.
The Minister said: “It is common knowledge that mining companies of many countries are willing to choose, and they decide where to go and invest based on the availability of data, so as to minimize their risk and, of course, maximize their profit.”
He said the World Bank has been assisting Nigeria through the World Bank-funded Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification (MINDIVER) project, to attain data that would attract the requisite investment to the mining sector.
According to him, the National Geodata Centre would create a modern digital accessible infrastructure that would be domiciled at the NGSA.
“It has a particular focus on data relevant to the mineral sector, with the aim of improving access by investors to data and information,” he noted further, stressing that the centre is not static continual information or data will be uploaded onto it centre from time to time.
He said though the centre is located at the headquarters of the NGSA, it’s linked with its two arms in Kaduna, i.e. the NGSA office there and then the National steel Raw Material Agency.
“The three of them are linked by dedicated platforms which have come to stay and the data will be accessible to would-be investors, both local and international,” he said.
He commended NGSA for the various milestones achieved by the agency under him as Minister, adding that one of such is the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project, NIMEP, which proved to be successful with “very good results”.
The Permanent Secretary, MMSD, Dr Oluwatoyin Akinlade, who was represented by the head, Human Resources, Mr. M. K. Suleiman, stressed the importance the federal government attach to the geodata project, noting that the centre was designed as a one-stop shop for geoscience data and information address earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Oluwatoyin Akinlade, stressed the importance the Federal Government attach to the geodata project, noting that the centre was designed as a one-stop shop for geoscientific data and information.
“The Nigerian Geo-Data Centre was conceived as a national reliable repository of digital geoscience information on Nigeria. It was designed to be robust, comprehensive, easy to find and readily accessible.
“Due to its importance as a one stop shop for geoscientific data and information, the British Geological Survey (BGS) UK was contracted to establish this high level infrastructure that provides security, resilience, access to mining investors, researchers, development experts and the general public,” she said.
Director-General, NGSA, Abdulrazaq Garba commended the Minister for providing the right leadership and enabling environment for the agency to succeed, while also commending the support of the World Bank-assisted MINDIVER project and the technical partners.
