The Nigeria Solid Minerals Development Fund and GeoScan GmbH of Berlin, Germany have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on solid mineral development.
The agreement was formalised on Sunday, during the visit of German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz to Abuja, Nigeria.
Signing the MoU were the CEO of GeoScan GmbH, Oliver Haeggberg, and the Executive Secretary and CEO of SMDF, Fatima Shinkafi, representing Nigeria.
Haeggberg was part of the business delegation that accompanied the German Chancellor during his official visit to Nigeria, who met with President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian delegation at the Business to Government roundtable meeting.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, gave the details to State House Correspondents after this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
Alake said the MoU would advance solid minerals exploration, exploitation and judicious use of the revenue accruing to the federal government.
He said, “We constitute about 0.02 per cent of the global mining budget. With the $700bn estimation of our solid minerals deposit, we still have over 90 per cent of the entire landscape of Nigeria unexplored.
“And because it’s an expensive business, that underscores the significance of a landmark that we recorded yesterday with the GeoScan GmbH supported also by the German chancellor and our President.
“I’m happy to tell you that there’s no kobo commitment on the part of Nigeria. The company will establish its technology and plant here and move around the country enabling us to further explore all the other mineral deposits that we have.”