Business

Large Scale Mining, Key To Industrial Revolution – Sada

Published

9 years ago

March 6, 2015

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development,Mr. Musa Sada has said in Abuja that the development of large scale mining was key to achieve industrial revolution in any nation.
Sada, who stated this when he visited Nasaman Nigeria Ltd, an indigenous mining company, said it was part of the government’s plan to source for fund to ensure mining companies grew bigger in the country.
Sada said the World Bank, through its sustainable management of mineral resources project, gave grant to artisanal and small scale miners to economically empower and train them on safe mining practice.
“We are now in another phase of developing intermediate and large scale mining companies through sourcing for fund from financial houses, government funds and donor agencies.’’
He said this development would assist the country to achieve industrial revolution plan where companies would pay high taxes, employ more people and create value chain.
“You will not get what you want out of mining if you do not industrialise. The industrial revolution plan and mining roadmap are already going on so we can find a meeting point,’’ he said.
He said the N200 billion SME intervention fund was part of the target to achieve the industrial plan and also the Bank of Industry had similar facilities to support development of natural resources.
He said this was the time to start implementing the natural resources fund in the development of the mining sector, adding that the fund was not for running of the offices or buying cars.
He said the Federal Government usually set aside annually 1.68 per cent of budget for the development of the natural resources such as agriculture, water and solid minerals sector.
“Currently all the work that is ongoing in agriculture and water resources sector are largely from the fund, although there are other sources of funding.
The minister said the ideal of 1.68 per cent was to create other sources of revenue for government out of it, adding that the ministry’s roadmap had been addressing it.
“At a point in time we must start to access those funds to make substantial impact on the revenue; that is what we are looking at. It is actually a moving fund kept aside for this development,’’ Sada said.
He called on Nigerians to invest in the sector to ensure development of mining in the country.
However, Mr Mamma Ali, the Chairman of the company, appealed to the Federal Government to invest heavily in mining as the sector had a future in it.
Ali urged government to provide mining intervention fund for investors, to ensure fast development of the sector, adding that finance had been a major challenge militating against the development of mining.
The chairman said the company, which started mining in 2000 in the country, had already been partnering with UN to operate in compliance with the international convention and other protocols.
He said the company had been into mining of gold, iron ore, coal, bauxite, tantalite, cassitarite, precious and semi precious stones around Niger, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kogi, among others.
He said the company had established the first machanised, large-scale, chemical free gold processing facility in the country and intended to replicate the equipment across the country.
He said the machine could process 200 tonnes of gold daily and so far many Nigerians had been trained on how to operate it, to avoid recurrence of Zamfara lead poisoning in any part of the country.
He said the machine, which involved crushing and grinding of gold ore annually, could generate net cash flow 13.7 million dollars.
Mr Henry Mitchell, the Executive Director (Operations) of the company, during his presentation, said the partnership between the ministry and the company would drive the extractive industry to great height.
He said the mining sector, if well developed, would create over five million jobs for Nigerians and increase the revenue base of the country.
Mitchell said the under development of the sector had led to importation of minerals which could ordinarily be produced locally such as iron ore and salt.
The executive director said that the launch of Industrial Revolution Master Plan was a sign of President GoodLuck Jonathan’s commitment to develop the sector.
He said that key elements of the company were commercial asset development to generate revenue, indigenous skills development and formalisation of artisanal mining communities.

Business

Fuel Scarcity: IPMAN threatens shutdown over bridging claims

Published

5 days ago

May 3, 2024

The Tide

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Depot Chairmen Forum, has exonerated its members from the current fuel scarcity in the country.

According to IPMAN, this is caused by its inability to source petroleum products.

The IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum also threatened to withdraw its services over non-payment of N200 billion bridging claims by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to its members, since 2022.

Alhaji Yahaya Alhassan, the Chairman, of the Forum said this while briefing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday.

Alhassan said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) was the sole importer of the product, but the marketers could not source products from NNPC Ltd. deport, rather from the private depots at high rate.

“We cannot buy fuel from the private depots at N950 and transport the product from Lagos to the North and other parts of the country with N2 million and still sell it at N900 or N1, 000.

“It is expedient for us to state that we are more pained by the non-availability of petroleum products in the country, which has given rise to another round of untold hardship for Nigerians.

“Contrary to claims that IPMAN members are hoarding Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as fuel, we would like to categorically state that PMS scarcity is wholly triggered by inability to get fuel from NNPC and not IPMAN,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the NNPC Ltd. Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye said the disruption was due to logistical issues which had since been resolved.

“We currently have an availability of products exceeding 1.5 billion litres, which can last for at least 30 days. Unfortunately, we experienced a three-day disruption in distribution due to logistical issues, which has since been resolved.

“However, as you know, overcoming such disruptions typically requires double the amount of time to return to normal operations.

“Some folks are taking advantage of this situation to maximise profits. Thankfully, product scarcity has been minimal lately, but these folks might be exploiting the situation for unwarranted gain,’’ Soneye said.

He however, said the lines would clear out soon.

On the non-payment of bridging claims, the IPMAN forum said it was distressed and depressed by the laidback attitude of the NMDPRA towards the survival its member’s businesses, arising from its refusal in paying the claims.

“It is with deep frustration that we have assembled here today as the IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum. It is also disheartening to note that some of our members have completely shut down businesses and retrenched employees.

“As businessmen and women, our members acquired bank loans to keep their fuel retail outlets running on a daily basis across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria in order to serve the teeming population of Nigerians,’’ Alhassan said.

He recalled that Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), at a stakeholders meeting in February mandated the NMDPRA management to clear the entire debt in 40 days.

“However, today, we have crossed the 40 days’ time lapse given to the NMDPRA to clear the debt, and it is shameful to state that only the paltry sum of N13 billion has been paid, ignoring minister’s directive.

“We are not happy with the indiscriminate increment in the issuance and renewal of Sales and Storage Licence, by the NMDPRA, and the subsequent delays in acquiring the licence, which our members are recently subjected to.

“We are also calling on President Bola Tinubu to look into this unwholesome figure which is highly detrimental to our business and reverse it forthwith, as it is bound to impact negatively on the masses.

“We are poised to take far reaching decisions that may cripple the supply and sales of petroleum products across Nigeria if our demands are not met within the shortest period of time.

“We are collectively prepared to withdraw our services, shut down every single outlet, and suspend lifting of products forthwith till our demands are fully met, and the consequences will be terrible.

“We call on our members to however remain resolute and law abiding, even as we draw close to the immediate ultimatum for our demands to be met by the NMDPRA,’’ the chairman said.

Reacting to the IPMAN’s claims, the Acting Head, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, Seiyefa Osanebi said the bridging claims payment was ongoing.

“The bridging claims payment is always an ongoing process,” she said.

Maritime

Shippers’ Council Registers 160 Port Operators

Published

1 week ago

April 29, 2024

The Tide

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) says it has registered 160 Port stakeholders into its Regulated Port Service Provider and Users platform since the initiative began in 2023.
Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr Pius Akutah, made the disclosure on the sideline of a sensitisation programme by the commission for port operators in Lagos, with the theme, “Regulated Port Service Provider and Users”.
Represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs, Chief Cajetan Agu, Akutah emphasised the significance of the programme for stakeholders.
He said the sensitisation programme was the second edition after its commencement during the last quarter of 2023.
The Secretary said the 160 registered port operators consist of agencies, terminal operators, shipping companies, individual port users as well as service providers.
“We invited the ports stakeholders for enlightening them on the processes for online registration of Regulated Port Service Provider and Users.
“We have demonstrated to them how to register and how to make payment and we were able to present before them the various categories of the registration.
“The rate of payment is also in the registration. The payment of each group depends on the operation. A shipper pays N30,000, terminal operators and shipping companies pay N300,000, truckers also pay N30,000, while some pay N50,000 and N100,000.
“The Council was able to intimate them on the benefits, because port users benefit more as we help to interface on reducing port charges from time to time”, Akutah said.
He said that there was a need to continue to work with port operators to stop delays and eliminate high costs to make the port efficient.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director, Stakeholders, Service, NSC, Mr Celestine Akujobi, said “the sensitisation exercise was important for the council to enable us bring all the port stakeholders together”.
According to him, this is to avoid challenges during the implementation of the council’s responsibilities.
“By the time we introduce sanctions on defaulters, no operators will complain that he or she is not aware of the registration.
“I’m happy with the turnout of this sensitisation. This shows that the operators are well informed of the statutory friction of the council as the port regulator.
“The final implementation will commence as soon as we discover that all the operators have keyed into the portal.
“We are engaging other ports across the country and we’re hopeful that before the last quater of 2024, the council will implement sanctions on defaulting operators”, Akujobi said.
Earlier, Vice Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwards (NAGAFF), Dr Ifeanyi Emoh, said port challenges were enormous, adding that they originated from some of the government agencies.

Emoh urged the council to look into regulating other government agencies, so that there could be a window through which they can collect port charges collectively instead of indiscriminately.

By: Chinedu Wosu