By Victoria Onehi
The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the implementation of the RoadMap for the development of the energy transitions and critical minerals value chain in Nigeria.
This was stated by the Minister of Solid, while declaring open the two-day Stakeholders Workshop on the implementation of the Roadmap for the development of energy transition and critical minerals value chain in Nigeria.
In his address in Abuja, Dr. Alake said: “Today’s gathering is not just any other technical meeting. It is a strategic milestone in our journey to harnessing the immense potential of our mineral resources at a sustainable level, driving industrialisation, and positioning Nigeria as a key player in the global energy position.”
The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Solid Minerals, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo,stressed that the context of the workshop could not be more urgent.
“As we go around the world, the demand for this alongside rare earth elements and other critical inputs for energy transition. Technology is moving at an unprecedented pace. These are the backbones for solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and their storage systems and, of course, other local tecnologies.
“And we all noticed that nations can develop competitive, strategic, sustainable, and well governing all value chain stand out to be able to be leading in the emerging clean energy economy. Nigeria is blessed with abundant deposits of these minerals, and our mining sector remains underexposed and largely underdeveloped. ”
He also said: “The roadmap we are incorporating today is aimed to change this by (1) attracting investment and, of course, the critical and energy transition mineral value chain from exploration to utilisation (2) Building energy infrastructure and human capital. (3) Strengthening governance, security, environmental compliance, and stewardship. (4) Supporting artisinal and small-scale miners while promoting industrial scale operations. (5) Ensuring that mining benefits flow equitably to our communities and contribute to a broader environment across federal, state, and local governments.
“This workshop is therefore unique because we are adopting a collaborative approach to policy making. In other words, we are today incorporating this particular roadmap. By doing that, we bring together governments, industries, communities, academia, and, of course, our development partners towards shaping the shared vision.”
In a statement by the Head (Press and Public Relations Department ),Kania Maliki Andeyaba,Alake noted that the roadmap will complement the Ministry’s seven-point agenda ensuring that Nigeria’s voice is strong at regional and global Forums.
Likewise, a paper presented by Engr. Obadiah Nkom, Director General, Nigeria Mining Cadastre office titled: Implementation of the 2016 Nigerian RoadMap, Overview of the Mineral Sector dwelt on the historical backgrounds,challenges of sector prior to 2016 RoadMap, Overview of the 2016 RoadMap and status of implementation of the 2016 RoadMap.
According to Engr.Nkom, the historical backgrounds of the Nigerian Mining Sector date back to 1902 when colonial masters commenced organized mining activities.
He said that 1905 marked the establishment of mining surveys, as the first mineral was Classiterite by Royal Niger Company.
“1906 marks the commencement of coal exploration and mining, 1914 marks the discovery of other minerals in commercial quantity, and the second the second mineral mined in commercial quantity was gold in Niger and Kogi States respectively.
“By 1919, there was an establishment of Geological survey as a Department. In 1946, the Mineral Ordinance was constituted. In 1950, coal ordinance resulted in the establishment of Nigeria Coal Corporation by government.
“By 1964, the explosive act was constituted. This continued up to 2024, which brought about Nigerian Mineral Value Chain Regulations.”
Engr. Nkom further stated that the challenges of the sector prior to 2016 roadmap include: Poor Policy initiatives, inadequate geoscience data generation, industry tilted to small-scale miners, limited stakeholders leverage.
Sustainable Resource Management: Ensuring responsible use of resources to maintain environmental and economic sustainability.
According to Engr. Nkom, the roadmap implementation time frames were categorised as immediate- Initiative that need to begin right away (June 2016), short-term initiatives between the first 6 months and 2 years of the plan going into Long-term Initiatives-Between years 5 and 10 of the plan,
Ongoing initiatives: Initiatives that span the lifetime of the plan and may be revisited.
Also, the World Bank, in its presentations at the workshop, stressed the surging global demand for ETCMs . It further stated that the energy transition could increase demand for minerals like Lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements by up to 500% by 2050.
According to the World Bank, on account of the strategic urgency amid global supply chain realignment, countries are restoring supply chains and enacting policies like the EU Critical Raw Materials Act- narrowing the window for Nigeria to secure its place in global ETCM value chains. Again, it also noted that on alignment with national industrial policy goals, ETCMs support objectives.
The workshop later went into breakout sessions for more technical deliberations and discussions as well as presentations of their conclusions.
The workshop has in attendance, Director Generals, and CEOs of the Nigerian Solid Mineral Sector, and Directors from other MDAs, representatives of States and Local Governments, development partners particularly the representatives of the world Bank and their partners, industry leaders, members of the academia, and representatives of mining communities.
