By Oscarline Onwuemenyi

The World Bank has indicated plans to approve early next year, an additional $80 million credit for the development of Nigeria’s Solid Minerals sector.

The development follows Federal Government’s request for an additional $80 million facility from the Bank, to facilitate the implementation of additional works necessary to trigger the full development of the mining sector in the country.

The new facility is in addition to the $120 million concessionary credit it received in  2004 from the global lender, as part of a Development Credit Agreement towards funding the Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project, SMMRP, implemented by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.

The Senior Mining Specialist of the World Bank, Ms. Ekaterina N. Mikhaylova, who is in the country as the new Task Team Leader, TTL, for the Project Monitoring Unit, PMU of the Bank in Nigeria, said efforts are on to ensure the approval of the sum to sustain the growth in the country’s solid minerals sector.

Mikhaylova in an interview with our correspondent, said, “This project has been on the right track over the last five years, and we only hope to move faster from this point and create the necessary environment for sustainable growth in the industry.

“The Bank is in the process of approving the Federal Government of Nigeria’s demand for an additional $80 million for the continuous improvement of systems and mechanisms for the solid minerals industry, and at this stage, we are confident that all the right boxes will be ticked towards making this feasible by the first quarter of 2011.”

She also pointed out that investment in “efficient geology and information survey systems would put Nigeria on the global map as a serious mining destination, and would encourage investors to put money for the growth of the industry.

“The Project belongs to the Nigerian government and its people. The World Bank is just here to give financial support and technical guidance to the achievement of a sustainable mining system for the economic and social growth of the country and its citizens,” she added.

Also speaking to Vanguard, the Lead Mining Speiclaist of the World Bank, and out_going Team Leader, Mr. Craig Andrews, noted that the country has the potential “to stand shoulder to shoulder with many mining countries in the world, given the amount of work done to reform the sector and make it attractive to investors both locally and internationally.”

He added that, “The Project has been involved in so many aspects of the Nigerian mining industry including training, capacity building, infrastructure development and equipping relevant institutions and providing technical assistance to government in the formulation of policy for the sector.

“The Project has also invested heavily in the establishment of the Geophysical Airborne surveys and the Geo-chemical mapping systems as well as the development of dimension stones and gemstones subsector of the industry, among others.”

At a recent Stakeholders’ Workshop on World Bank funding of the Nigerian Mining Project, in Abuja, the Minister of Mines and Steel, Mr. Musa Mohammed Sada, explained that the initial concessionary credit was required to jumpstart the development process for the country’s solid minerals industry.

He said, “The government over the years has recognised the imperative to diversify our economy away from oil and gas; the mining sector was, therefore, identified as critical to the achievement of this goal.

“The Project is in direct response to government’s emphasis on the development of the non_oil sources of revenue, with mining and agriculture earmarked as sectors with the greatest potential. Government had sought to diversify the economic base of the nation, give it some balance and ensure less susceptibility to the vagaries and dynamics of international oil price mechanism.”