Nigeria’s mining sector is to receive a boost as the World
Bank is packaging a two-year Externally Funded Output (EPO) aimed at boosting
exploration activities in the years ahead.
About two World Bank agencies, namely the Australian Agency
for International Development (AusAID) and the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA) are extending the funding support at the
instance of the World Bank and will be focusing on three key priority areas in
the artisan miners’ development, mineral taxation and spatial analysis on
economic corridor development.
This is the second time World Bank will be funding projects
in the mining sector in the country. The first was the five-year $120 million
Sustainable Management of the Minerals Resources Projects (SMMRP) that closed
on May 30, 2012.
Unveiling the project agenda in Abuja yesterday
at the stakeholders’ workshop tagged, ‘strengthening plan to support the
strategic road map for mining sector development with partial analysis to
define potential mineral resource corridor for Nigeria, the World Bank Senior
Mining Specialist, Francisco Igualada, said the project would also consider
other issues in the mining sector as well as the general objectives and donor’s
tasks distribution.According to him, “following the successful closure of the
SMMRP on May 30, 2012, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development made a
request to development partners to support continuance of mining reforms in
Nigeria.“In response, the AusAID and CIDA approached the World Bank to design
and implement a program on their behalf and was granted.” He explained that EPO
is a streamlined instrument for receiving external contributions to support the
World Bank’s work programme.
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