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China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
The Federal Government of Nigeria, promised on Wednesday to commit part of the N30 billion Mining Intervention Fund to support the local operators in the country.
This commitment, according to the government, would enable them scale up their operations and bridge the importation gap.
Dr.Kayode Fayemi the Minister of Mines and Steel Development disclosed in Kaduna, while inspecting quarrying facilities at CIBI Nigeria Limited's quarry site in Buruku, Kaduna State.
Dr. Fayemi said in a statement authorized by his Special Assistant on Media, that part of the fund would be drawn from the World Bank loan and the N30 billion Mining Intervention Fund approved by the Federal Executive Council last year, among others.
He added that the ministry has entered into a partnership with the BOI (Bank of Industry) to offer loan facilities from the intervention funds to serious operators who were already producing and who required assistance to increase the scope of their operation.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development stated that companies who were involved into production of quality tiles would benefit from the fund with a view to positioning them to increase their production, compete favourably and help reduce dependence on imported tiles.
“We are working with the Bank of Industry to disburse the loans as soon as the intervention funds are released to serious tile producers across the country,” he added.
The conversion of natural stone (marble, granite, slate, etc.) from the quarried mineral to the decorative home accent is a timely process. Blocks are cut from the natural quarries and transported to factories for cuts into slabs and tiles.
Dr. Fayemi said the companies like CIBI Nigeria Limited would have been able to produce more than 200,000 square meters it currently produced annually from dimension stones, if adequate resources, including finance, equipment and others were available.
He highlighted that Nigeria needed about four million square meters of tiles annually, adding that all the local tile producers could only produce less than a million annually.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development lamented that the bulk of tiles being used in Nigeria were imported from Italy, China and India, pointing out that there was an urgent need to support local operators as captured in Mining road map drawn by the ministry.
According to the Minister, “we are endowed with lots of mineral resources, we have dimension stones everywhere but not exploited; there is no stone we don't have in Nigeria”.
Architect Nuhu Wya, the Chairman of CIBI Nigeria Limited, urged the government to assist and support its project, as there were more demands for tiles but it lacked sufficient capital to extend the business.
He said that the company usually received market orders from its customers two months before production.
“If investment put in oil industry is replicated in solid minerals, Nigeria does not need to depend on oil as its mainstay because we are blessed with mineral stones abundantly”, he said.The Federal Government of Nigeria, promised on Wednesday to commit part of the N30 billion Mining Intervention Fund to support the local operators in the country.
