BY FRANCIS KADIRI
EGYPTIAN Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, has called on African leaders to work together for the development of the rich mineral resources of the continent.
He said there was the need to create a global forum that was focused on Africa, such as the Mining Indaba, where the rich solid mineral resources of the continent would be showcased for marketing purposes.
Molla, who spoke recently, during an Expression of Interest Ceremony in Cairo, Egypt, tasked Africans to deploy their natural resources for the development of the continent, noting that they were obliged to optimise the natural resources of the continent.
A statement from the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, signed by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Etore Thomas, said the ceremony was coordinated by the Egyptian African Arab Company for Development (EGAAD) in Cairo, Egypt.
According to her, it brought together the Government of Nigeria and Messer La Mancha Incorporated, a leading Luxembourg Incorporated Gold Mining and Development Company in Egypt, which had signed an Expression of Interest Agreement with the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to invest in gold mining in Nigeria.
The Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development, Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, who led the Nigerian delegation, agreed with Molla, while emphasising the need for collaboration and cooperation to realise the African potential for industrialisation, saying that the Egyptian Mineral Sector had a lot of similarities in Policy Reforms with Nigeria.
Ogah described the signing of the Expression of Interest by La Mancha as one of the results of efforts being made by the government of Nigeria to attract credible investors to the Nigerian mining sector, adding that it would boost the effort of government to diversify the economy.
He expressed satisfaction with the collaboration between the Federal Government and La Mancha Holdings Incorporated, with portfolio companies such as Endeavour Mining, Golden Star Resources and Altus Strategies, among others, and with a market capital in excess of about US$10bn and over 1.2Moz of gold production.
He said Nigeria stood to benefit immensely from the partnership, noting that the collaboration would further cement African brotherhood in a way that ensured development within the continent, using its abundance gold resources.
