RMAFC assures robust funding for solid mineral sector

THE Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on Monday promised to provide more funding for the development of the solid minerals sub sector.
This is contained in a statement signed by the commission's Head of Public Relations, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, in Abuja.
The statement quoted the Chairman of the commission, Elias Mbam, as making the pledge when he received the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Musa Sada.
Mbam stressed the importance of developing the solid minerals sub sector to make it more viable and serve as alternative source of revenue for the nation.
He said that for the sector to perform optimally in line with global best practices, it required more funding windows in form of long term financing.
According to him, this will go a long way to reducing over reliance on the annual budgetary provisions and increase the quantum of revenue into the Federation Account.
``Under the current Revenue Allocation Formula, the Solid Minerals Sector is a beneficiary of the 1.6 per cent of all distributable revenue from the Federation Account as provided in the Natural Resources Development Fund.
``The commission is committed to attracting more funding for the sector in view of its overriding importance as a revenue earner.
``Solid minerals deserves to be enthroned with a viable fiscal policy regime that will place the sector at par with other revenue generating agencies like the Customs and the FIRS which collect seven per cent and four per cent respectively from total revenues collected," he said.
Earlier, the minister decried the poor revenue-generating capacity of the solid minerals sector.
He said that at the moment, Federal Government was not collecting up to 20 per cent from the sector due to the series of weaknesses inherent in the sector.
Sada said that the moribund sector would soon be restored to its past glory since government had identified the sector as one of the very strong and strategic tool of its transformation agenda.
He said that the sector had the ability to improve local content, value addition and import substitution for required raw materials to improve the nation's economy.
The minister said the ongoing reforms in the sector had attracted the attention of the World Bank which was currently helping to reform the sector to involve the private sector.
``The World Bank has comprehensively carried out institutional reforms which include strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks and fiscal governance to enhance the revenue generation capacity and governance of mining institutions in Nigeria.
``Nigeria is blessed with huge limestone deposit producing only two million metric tonnes of cement.
``But with reforms, the production figure has risen to 30 million metric tonnes making the country an exporter of cement," he said.
The minister was accompanied by Dauda Kigbu, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry and other directors. (NAN)