Commonwealth, Fed Govt open talks on deep sea mining.

Commonwealth, Fed Govt open talks on deep sea mining.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has begun talks with Nigeria on how the country can make gains from sea mining.

This was on top of the agenda during a presentation of the Commonwealth Secretariat with the Nigerian delegation, led by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake, during the minister’s visit to the institution.

In his determination to mobilise international assistance to position the solid minerals sector to compete globally, Alake requested to discuss matters of mineral development with the Commonwealth.

Addressing the forum, the minister said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had identified the solid minerals sector as a pillar of Nigeria’s current efforts to diversify the economy.

The policy, he said, led the ministry to develop a Seven-Point Agenda that encompasses the establishment of a solid minerals company, gathering of big data on mineral reserves to de-risk investments, ensure improved security to keep the mines safe, and socio-economic development of mining communities through effective community development agreements.

Alake urged the Commonwealth, as an institution that has developed expertise over many years, to support the Tinubu administration’s efforts.

Nigeria is a member of the 54-member Commonwealth.

The Senior Director of Trade, Oceans and Natural Resources Department, Paul Kautoke, praised the delegation for its visit to the Commonwealth secretariat.

He said Nigeria, as a coastal country, could explore the profitable prospects of extraction of deep sea minerals, such as copper, cobalt, nickel, gold, and rare earth elements.

Kautoke noted that many Commonwealth countries in the Pacific region were making inroads into the seep sea mining subsector, promising that the body could assist to develop a policy for Nigeria.

Also, the Director of Natural Resources, Victor Kitange; the Trade and Investment Adviser, Opeyemi Abebe; the Economic Adviser on Trade, Ocean and Natural Resources, Daniel Wilder; and the Adviser of Ocean Governance, Allison Swaddling, spoke about the progress achieved in deep sea mining.

They expressed concerns that African countries were lagging behind in the sub-sector.