President Bola Tinubu has instructed the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to only issue mining licenses if they are tied to local value addition.Tinubu gave the directive on Wednesday during the inauguration of the 2024 African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit, held in Abuja.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Tinubu was represented at the event by the Vice-President Kashim Shettima.He said the directive would ensure that young Nigerians are actively engaged in economic activities, acquiring skills and contributing to the overall development of the economy.The president said his administration was fully committed to creating an enabling business environment to attract investment that encouraged 'value addition' on solid minerals before export.'We recognise the losses incurred from exporting crude mineral commodities and understand that it is time to change this narrative.'By doing so, we aim to ensure that our teeming youth are actively engaged in economic act ivities, acquiring skills, and contributing to the nation's foreign exchange earnings.'Therefore, the ministry will only issue mining licenses if they are tied to local value addition,' the president said.President Tinubu said that his administration's target in the solid minerals sector was to make Nigeria a leader in critical metals.He commended stakeholders for the establishment of the African Minerals Strategy Group with Nigeria as the first chairman of the initiative.'We aim to set new standards in the mining industry and ensure that Africa gets an equitable slice of supplying the world with critical metals.'In our transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy systems, we also recognise the pivotal role that natural gas plays.'Natural gas is a transition fuel that will fundamentally restructure our nation's economy,' he added.Earlier, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, announced the government's strategy under the Renewed Hope Agenda, to position Nigeria as a ma jor player in the global minerals market.'We are committed to transforming Nigeria's solid mineral sector into a cornerstone for our nation's economic diversification,' he said.Source: News Agency of Nigeria
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