Nigeria, France restate commitment to implementation of mining MoU in Riyadh

*Dr. Oladele Alake, Nigeria’s Minister for Solid Minerals Development, and Benjamin Gallezot, France’s Interministerial Delegate for Strategic Minerals, in Saudi Arabia, discuss implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding earlier signed December 2024, in Paris, with concrete commitments by France to upgrade the laboratory, provide advanced technological equipment, and fund the exploration of geological data of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Nigeria and France, in Saudi Arabia, further drilled down the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which the two countries had signed December 2024, in Paris, recently, with concrete commitments by France to upgrade the laboratory, provide advanced technological equipment, and fund the exploration of geological data of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency.

Dr. Oladele Alake, Nigeria’s Honourable Minister for Solid Minerals Development, and Benjamin Gallezot, France’s Interministerial Delegate for Strategic Minerals, met on the sidelines of the ongoing Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

The two leaders along with their teams also resolved to exchange information on the mining laws of both countries to compare notes on cadastral management and provisions on illegal mining.

Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, Special Adviser to the Minister on Media, who disclosed this development in a statement, said Gallezot announced that his department was screening a list of French companies that had applied to invest in the Nigerian mining sector and would forward the final list of verified serious investors to the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.

Opening the talks, Dr. Alake appreciated Gallezot for working with him to produce the MoU despite the severe time constraints during the visit of Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu to French President Emmanuel Macron.

The Minister affirmed that attempts by political opponents to misinform the public about the genuine objectives of the MoU have been sufficiently neutralised.

He said the Future Minerals Forum allowed both countries to move their understanding forward by designing programmes, policies, and projects to remove doubts about collaboration and generate positive outcomes.

The statement also noted the talks featured issues, such as sustainable mining, artisanal mining, geological exploration, cadastral management, training, and funding.

In his presentation, Prof. Olusegun Ige, Director-General of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), highlighted the agency’s desire to acquire modern advanced technological equipment to enhance the exploration of geological data.

Ige said the lack of advanced technological equipment had delayed the exploration of large sheets of mineralised spaces in the country.

The Director-General of NGSA also asserted the laboratory must also be upgraded to analyse extracted rocks using the latest gadgets to generate accurate information.

Harping on the need for training and skills transfer, Prof. Ige further emphasised the need to develop local expertise with international exposure because mining is a global business.

Speaking at the forum, Engineer Simon Nkom, the Director-General of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, called for comparing the mining laws of France and Nigeria to detect areas of common practices and improvement, adding that this could be useful to the ongoing review of mining laws.

Simon canvassed the French delegation to encourage French investors to explore opportunities in Nigerian mining by leveraging the MoU.

Hajiya Fatima Shinkafi, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Solid Minerals Fund, in her presentation, also proposed the co-funding of early-stage exploration projects by the agency and French financial institutions, informing that the SMDF has acquired a lot of historical data and best practices from its current collaboration with the Africa Finance Corporation to fund mining entrepreneurs seeking funding for exploration.

Responding to matters raised by NGSA, Deputy Director, Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres (BRGM), the French geological agency, Christophe Poinssot, promised to include Nigeria among the countries benefitting from funds managed by France to build the capacity of geologists in Africa.

Noting that over 1,000 African geologists have benefitted from the eight-year fund, Poinssot said the request for capacity building in line with the MoU came when the new phase of the funding project was about to start.

He also announced that Nigeria would benefit from France’s programme of empowering mining countries by building laboratories for geological analysis, adding that since Nigeria has a laboratory, France would upgrade it to meet international standards.

Concluding the position of the French delegation on the talks, Gallezot said the proposals at the talks would be discussed at various levels of the government, and a programme for execution worked out.

He said both countries’ geological agencies could conduct joint exploration work on specific minerals to develop a robust database.

The parties resolved to develop the programme and review the implementation during next month’s annual Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa, Bamigbetan stated.

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Dr. Oladele Alake, Honourable Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Discussing with Benjamin Gallezot, French Interministerial Delegate on Strategic Minerals, at the Recent Future Minerals Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia       Photo: State House