United States and Nigeria establish working committee on mining development

The Government of Nigeria and the United States (U.S.) have established a joint working group to work on modalities for mining development in the country

This decision was made during a meeting between the Nigerian delegation, led by Dr. Dele Alake, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, and the U.S. delegation, led by Amos Hochstein, Senior Advisor to the U.S. President on Energy and Infrastructure.

According to a statement by the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, Alake emphasized that the meeting aimed to bolster collaboration with the U.S.

U.S to assist Nigeria in security and technical assistance

During the meeting, the United States delegation stated their commitment to assisting Nigeria in training its security agencies to safeguard its mining sites and also demonstrated interest in investing in Nigeria’s mineral extraction and processing.

The head of the U.S. delegation, Hochstein expressed the U.S.’s interest in partnering with Nigeria to unlock investments in the mining sector, which would involve infrastructural development, technical assistance, and other investment opportunities to scale up mining operations.

Hochstein also disclosed the U.S.’s collaboration with the Federal Government to finance clean energy options.

On his part, Alake appreciated the U.S. as a longstanding ally of Nigeria, asserting that the newfound collaboration for mining development would strengthen bilateral relations, mutually benefiting both nations.

He said,

• “We are putting in place reforms to ensure that we have an enabling environment in the sector, different from the experiences we had in the past,”

Backstory

• Recall that the Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Mr. Dele Alake has been in South Africa attending the 30th edition of Investing in Africa Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Yesterday, it was announced that the Minister has been appointed as the pioneer Chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) by Ministers of mineral development from 15 African countries.