A landscape and prospects report jointly issued by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and Ford Foundation has stated that the country’s mining sector is capable of pulling 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030 if properly harnessed.

The report looked at the Nigerian Solid Minerals industry with a verdict of what needed to be done to transform it into an economically viable sector.

The report describes Nigeria’s solid minerals industry as one of the potential employment-generating sectors with a vast capacity to bridge government’s revenue gaps, promote inclusive growth and support economic structural transformation.

Underscoring opportunities for growth, the sector is projected to drive the government’s diversification agenda at a scale capable of supporting the pulling of 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030.

The report revealed that the current state of the sector is not appealing as it contributes merely to the nation’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “Its employment-generation potential is also far from being realised, given its contribution of 0.3 per cent to national employment and 0.2 per cent to total export.

“Several factors contribute to this grim performance, such as– widespread illegal mining due to a weak regulatory environment at the Federal and state government as well as infrastructural challenges,” the report reads in part. It listed other challenges to include insufficient funding, high risk associated with mining, health and environmental hazards, inadequate geological data, ill-equipped laboratory and policy inconsistency.

For a country like Nigeria, sector governance issues such as lack of clarity and weak intergovernmental framework for addressing minerals ownership and control issues – contribute to the sector’s woes. (Saturday Telegraph)