The World Bank is expected to be at the upcoming Nigeria Mining Week this October—in a country it says it has developed a “real partnership” with and should be on the mining map again.
Francisco Igualada, senior mining specialist at the World Bank will feature at the forum to speak on: “Establishing a strong foundation for mining sector development: Enhancing competitiveness and fostering domestic investment in Nigeria.”
“In Nigeria we have managed to develop a real ‘partnership’ with the Federal Government of Nigeria and we are still working along with some of the States that have higher mining potentials,” he said.
In an exclusive interview with the organisers Spintelligent, Igualada said: “The World Bank follows a kind of value chain that bring those countries we support from non-renewable resources to a stage in which sustainable development may take place.”
The Bank has been involved in two landmark projects: supporting rationalization of mining sector in the DRC through five years and managing a recently approved $150 million loan project to develop Nigeria’s mining sector and diversify the economy from dependence on oil.
“This is the reason why the Honourable Minister Dr. Kayode Fayemi with his drive and strong determination has led the initiative to put Nigeria ‘on the African mining map again’ as, in my opinion, the country deserves,” he added.
“From the Bank’s side, I am really looking forward to contribute to transforming their potential resources into some tangible exploration and exploitation mineral projects bringing economic prosperity and jobs. Nigeria is the first African economy and really needs the employment that mining and all types of value-chain including local content can bring,” he noted.
His message at the Nigeria Mining Week will be the “need to get it right,” he said.
“This cannot and should not be improvised and built on a piece-meal basis. Consequently, the only way to bring competitiveness… that obviously comes from competing with our external environment – is by building an integrated approach that would facilitate sharing information and resources with other development donors that are betting on Nigeria as well. Competing should be both internal and external even if nowadays such distinction is a bit blurred due to globalisation of economies.”
The upcoming Nigeria Mining Week, which is taking place again in Abuja from 16-19 October, is a successful partnership between PwC, the Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN) and event organisers Spintelligent. This high-level, strategic mining investment platform will link investors, project developers, financiers, technology providers and government to share best practices and demonstrate the latest strategies to evolve the sector successfully.
