As the World transits from fossil fuel to cleaner energy, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia are set to form a synergy to enhance development of solid minerals in the country.
Nigerian Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake and his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Bandan Alkhorayef led the delegations of their respective countries to the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Media aide to the Nigerian Minister, Segun Tomori said Mr Alake emphasized the need to forge the partnership, as the critical minerals needed for global energy transition, exist abundantly in Nigeria.
Mr Alake said Nigeria needed relationship with countries like Saudi Arabia to maximally utilize and derive maximum revenue from its own economic and infrastructure development.
The Nigerian Minister further told his Saudi counterpart that incentives for investment include repatriation of profits by foreign investors, tax waivers on imported mining equipment and rebranded security arrangement for mining areas.
He emphasized the readiness of the Nigerian team to work with their Saudi counterparts to fine tune specifics and concretize areas of collaboration within a time frame.
Responding, the Saudi Arabia Minister, Bandan Alkhorayef said he shared Mr Alake’s position on several issues raised.
Both countries subsequently resolved to set up a joint Technical Committee to see to details of the agreement.
