The Director-General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (NMCO), Obadiah Nkom, said on Wednesday that transparency in mining licenses will boost the economy and also entice more investments locally and globally.

It is also said that the development of the mining sector is based on the transparency of the mining license.

Nkom, who disclosed this in Abuja while briefing journalists on the sidelines of 8th edition of Nigeria Mining Week, noted that the event provides an avenue for investors to interact and showcase their potential for both local and international investors.

He noted that the mining Cadastre office is operating the eMC plus an online for transparency to boost the mining industry across Nigeria.

He said that with eMC Online, you can see how to process licenses of the mining industry anywhere in the world.

He said: “If licensing is not transparent enough, then there is no way it will be able to actually attract the needed investment, particularly in the sector. And as long as we get it wrong in the mining, title administration, then it becomes a big problem.

“But as it relates to mining licenses, the nation’s Transparency Initiative, we work very closely with them because once title administration, like I said, is not transparent, then there’s no way people will be able to come and invest, At the same time. There is the concept of people having licenses or not actually using it.

“There are two ways you can lose a license, first of all, non payment of one or service fees. And the second one is dormant activities in addition to other obligations, which are spelt out clearly in the app. That is why one of our key principles in the mining cadastre is “Use it on you lose it” because at the end of the day, if you don’t use the license, you lose it.

“The most important thing at the end of the day is that we need to be able to open up the minds of people who are holding licenses and lack the technical capability or they had plans when I say luck is a precondition for granting a license or you may have your own plans.

“After six months or one year, you’ll find out that they needed financial funding, whatever support you couldn’t get it. So at the end of the day, it affects your activity and you have no option but to be able to now actually.”