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By Charles Nwaoguji
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) among other stakeholders in the solid minerals sector has committed to proffering solutions at driving potential investments and harnessing benefits across the mining value chain.
The President of LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale_ Cole stated that the recommendations were to generate insights that would position Nigeria to earn more foreign exchange from solid minerals. He added that the recommendations followed a review of developments in the sector by the LCCI and the Association of Metal Exporters of Nigeria (AMEN) and Soundcore Group (SG).
Olawale-Cole who stated this at a workshop organised by LCCI recently in Lagos, stated that a report by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) indicated that revenue from the sector to the Federation Account rose by 54 per cent in 2020 to N128 billion compared to N75 billion recorded in 2019.
He added that trade statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) also showed that the value of total trade in solid minerals in Q4, 2021 stood at N43.37 billion representing 0.37 per cent of total trade in Q4, 2021.
“Solid minerals exports in Q4, 2021 stood at N13.56billion, a decrease of 25.95 per cent compared to Q3, 2021 but an increase of 201.41 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2020.
“These are confirmations about the potentials in the solid minerals sector yet untapped,” he said. The LCCI President said that the highlights from the Organised Private Sector (OPS) revealed that the fragmented legislative framework of the 1999 constitution hindered investment in the solid minerals sector.
