Solid Mineral Development: FG to issue mining licences only to companies that process locally
The federal government of Nigeria will only issue new mining licences to companies that present a plan on how minerals would be processed locally, under new guidelines being developed, a government spokesperson confirmed on Thursday. This signals a shift from Nigeria's decades-old policy of exporting raw materials as African governments take steps to extract more value from their solid mineral deposits. To spur investment, Nigeria will offer investors incentives including tax waivers for importing mining equipment, make it easier to secure electricity generation licences, allow full repatriation of profits and boost security, Segun Tomori, a spokesperson for Nigeria's minister of solid minerals development said. "In exchange, we have to review their plans for setting up a plant and how they would add value to the Nigerian economy," Tomori said. He did not say when the guidelines would be finalised or come into effect. However, last week the minister of so