By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA- THE Executive Secretary, Solid Minerals Development Fund, SMDF, Fatima Shinkafi, yesterday, expressed optimism that the launched Early-Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment, EMERGE, Programme, will facilitate rapid growth of the nation’s solid minerals sector.

Speaking during the launch of EMERGE by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, in Abuja, Shinkafi said the initiative serves as a major component of the solid minerals sector reforms, and is designed to bring in investors, boost geological data, and upscale value addition in the mining sector along with strong support for indigenous industry players.

According to her, EMERGE will facilitate growth of the nation’s mining industry and to place Nigeria in the global mining community as one of the leading mining destinations for critical minerals for global energy transition.

She said: “EMERGE tends in the early stages of the natural exploration and research, the project development facility, advanced project development and construction and production, and initiatives such as aluminum refining and our responsible sourcing to secure land transition, which returns to the corporate chain. 

“All together, these are not isolated interventions, but a single, coherent, continuous framework. Each policy building on the ones before it, secondly, improve for value in the sector. 

“And all of them are aligned to the same national objective, diversify productive and prosperous economy built on metallic minerals and diversification.”

She further stated that, “We are in a new era where mineral wealth is both shifted to the export again, I think it’s been promoted in Nigeria and I think in Africa as a whole.”

She further stated that, “With the launch of EMERGE, we take another deliberate step towards a sector that explores with confidence as value at home and rewards the nation that owns those resources. Data is the new oil. Data is the new oil and data monetization is now the future.”