Economy News Update :World Bank to help place Nigeria on Africa’s mining map

The World Bank has said Nigeria deserves to be on the African mining map again, after losing out some years ago, The Punch reports.
The Senior Mining Specialist, Energy and Extractive Industries at the World Bank, Francisco Igualada, said the country would boost its economic fortunes and further create good jobs for its teeming populace if the mining model was holistically revisited with the aim of transforming the subsector. He added that, “In Nigeria, we have managed to develop a real ‘partnership’ with the Federal Government and we are still working along with some of the states that have higher mining potential.”
Igualada also said, “The World Bank follows a kind of value chain that brings those countries we support from non-renewable resources to a stage in which sustainable development may take place. Each country has its own idiosyncrasies/characteristics.” He said he was particularly excited about his responsibility in managing the recently approved $150m loan project for developing the Nigerian mineral sector and diversifying it from its dependency on other sectors like oil and gas.