Federal Government and the United Kingdom (UK) have resolved to form a joint technical working group to harmonise partnership for the development of critical mineral deposits in the country.
UK Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, had met Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, on the sidelines of the Mines and Money Conference in London, late last year, and expressed UK’s interest in Nigeria’s lithium.
Sequel to that parley, a delegation of the British High Commission (BHC) led by Deputy High Commissioner, Johnny Baxter, visited the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, reiterating Britain’s readiness to fine-tune details of collaboration that would culminate in investments in the mining sector value chain.
The minister, while receiving the British delegation, stressed that the President Bola Tinubu administration is improving ease of doing business in the mining sector through new security architecture for natural resources, installing efficient governance structure through the establishment of a private sector-led Nigerian Mining Corporation, among others.
Baxter lauded Nigeria’s efforts to diversify its economy, asserting that the minister’s efforts to give visibility to the mining sector attracted the attention of the international community.
Both countries, thereafter, agreed to follow through with a joint technical working group that would herald the partnership and foster investment in the mining sector.
The delegation included Political Counsellor, Tom Burge; Senior Political Adviser, Wale Adebajo and Trade Market Access Lead, UK Department for Business and Trade, Simeon Umukoro.
