Private Partnership can drive investment into mining sector -DG MCO

Favour Ishember, Abuja

To achieve the mandate of President Mohammadu Buhari’s  administration in the sector, the Director General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (MCO), Engr. Obadiah Simon Nkom has disclosed that Public- Private Partnership can drive huge investment into mining.

Engr. Nkom stated this  when a delegation of Optiva Resources Limited, a London based Investment organisation, in company of their Investment Advisers, NPL Advisors recently paid a courtesy visit to the Agency in Abuja to explore investment opportunities for the development of mineral resources in Nigeria.

Listing the types of Mineral Titles namely; Exploration Licence, Quarry Lease, Small Scale mining Lease, Water Use Permit and Mining Lease which is particularly open to foreign investors, the Director General assured of a more conducive environment, saying that the principles adapted by the Agency made the process very transparent. He added that other principles of Security of Tenure, First Come First Serve and that of “Use it or Lose it” particularly triggered a publication of over 4,000 Mineral Titles to remedy their default, failure of which their licences would be revoked.

Engr. Nkom further assured them, saying that Mining Cadastre Office is now online and the best time to invest in Nigerian mineral sector is now. He said that the government collaborated with the World Bank to upgrade the Agency’s system and it is compatible with the rest of the world, adding that with electronic Mining Cadastre (eMC+) application based system, a ready-made platform has been provided for investors all over the world to come on board.

In his words: “We ungraded from regular polygon to the online system we have now. We are talking about real time administration and these are the series of upgrades that will align with best international practices.”

“with the new system, you can apply for mineral title from anywhere in the world. Currently, we are crossing and dotting wherever is necessary for us to have a sustainable system.”

According to Engr. Nkom, offices in six geo political zones have been opened to equally receive applications from different zones and states; stressing that  the creation of RDS unit for the purpose of ongoing mining research all over the world to be able to “look into the future of minerals and mineral application” and added that Nigeria is indeed far ahead in cadastre than most of the African countries.

Earlier, the Director, Investment Promotion and Mineral Trade (IPMT) Yunusa Mohammed, stated that the organisation’s courtesy visit is sequel to the Ministry’s participation in the London Mines and Money Conference in December, 2021, adding that participation at such conferences is in order.

The Chief Executive Officer, Optiva Securities Limited, Christian Dennis who led the Team to Abuja disclosed that the company has been across Africa stated that they are on fact-finding mission to Nigeria because of key interest in exploring investment opportunities in the precious metals and battery metals.

Included on the Team are:Technical Director, Optiva Resources Limited, Charles Douglas Hamilton; Corporate Finance Executive Optiva Securites Limited, Mariela Jaho;  Managing Director NPL  advisors, Francis Nwokedi and Executive Director NPL Advisors, Confidence ShieluPresent at the Courtesy Visit were Management Staff of MCO and The Team from Investment Promotion and Mineral Trade (IPMT)Sade Fatoke, Head (PressDG MCO, Engr. Nkom, Confidence Shielu, Charles Hamilton and Christian Dennis                Engr. Nkom, (Middle), with Optiva Team and NPL  Advisors Team.