Edo State has the third highest number of licenses for solid minerals exploration and the state government has committed to partnering with stakeholders in the mining industry to increase production in the sector.
The Edo State Commissioner for Mining, Oil and Gas, Hon. Ethan Uzamere, who disclosed this during a 2-Day Stakeholders Meeting, stressed that the state government has plans to explore model Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements to increase productivity in the sector.
According to him, “Edo has the third largest number of licenses for mining only behind Kaduna and Nasarawa. We need all stakeholders to collaborate and harness the potentials in the sector.”
He noted that the stakeholders’ session was to increase investment in the sector, noting: ‘This forum is an opportunity to understand where we were, where we are, and what is required to move the sector forward.
“In addressing these gaps, we must look critically into developing a state mining policy, adding value to licenses already issued to investors in Edo State and taking full advantage of the state’s security architecture to guarantee production volumes.
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“We are already working to reduce the number of illegal operations in the sector, taking advantage of the harmonised system of revenue and pushing for more Public Private Partnership arrangements.”
The Commissioner reiterated the state government’s commitment to ensuring a well-organised mineral mining sector, which is key to the diversification policies of the government as mining in the nearest future is likely to overtake crude oil exploration.
“This is why efforts are being made to strengthen and improve our infrastructure and in the last few years, we have developed several critical sectors of the state economy like roads, land administration, security enhancement, electricity liberalisation, etc., in order to support the development of mining activities.”
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