France strengthens ties with Nigeria for mining growth

The French government has reiterated its commitment to partner with Nigeria on harnessing solid minerals, noting that the country remains Nigeria’s strong ally.

The French Ambassador to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier made the remark when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake over the weekend.

Marc Fonbaustier who stressed that France was fully committed to supporting Nigeria’s roadmap for mining development, expressed his country’s with keen interest in investing in the sector.

In response , Dr Alake acknowledged France’s frontline position among prospective stakeholders who have shown interest in the solid minerals sector.

According to him, France has shown “enthusiasm, commitment, and readiness to implement tangible projects”.

The minster shared his optimism that “the long-standing and robust bilateral relationship between Nigeria and France will be further enhanced through key initiatives in the solid minerals sector backed by actionable goals with clear timelines.”

The Minister reiterated that the core agenda of President Tinubu’s policy initiatives has been the diversification of the economy with emphasis on solid minerals development.

He highlighted the imperative of continued engagement with the French team to identify serious French companies interested in the mining sector while fine tuning areas of collaboration to concretize partnership based on the earlier signed MOU.

It will be recalled that Nigeria and France signed an MOU late last year on the heels of President Tinubu’s state visit to France to develop joint projects for promotion and diversification of the critical minerals value chain with emphasis on technical assistance, capacity building, and remediation of abandoned pits.

Earlier,the Deputy Head, Regional economic department of the French embassy, Carole Libreton also expressed France’s readiness to fund projects in the mining corporation and collaborate with the ministry to galvanize French companies to develop mining value chain.