Federal Government Renames Ministry Of Solid Minerals, Approves New Roadmap

The Federal Executive Council has approved a new roadmap for the growth and development of the nation’s mining sector and the renaming of the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals.

The ministry will now be known as Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, disclosed this when he addressed State House correspondents on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, the new roadmap, built on the old roadmap, seeks to grow the contribution of mining to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in line with the Federal Government’s determination to further diversify the nation’s economy.

He said that under the new roadmap, there would be an independent regulatory agency for the mining industry as being advocated for by the operators in the mining sector.

“What it seeks to do is to grow the contribution of mining to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in line with the president’s vision to diversify our revenue base in the country, stressing the place of agriculture and mining in that.

“What distinguishes this roadmap, which builds on the old roadmap that was approved by the council in 2012, is its determination to set up an independent regulatory agency, which investors have been insisting on that the ministry which has been serving as facilitator should also not be the one that regulate them,’’ he said.