Solid minerals: France reaffirms commitment to remain Nigeria’s ally

French Ambassador to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, has reaffirmed his nation’s commitment to remain Nigeria’s formidable ally in developing the solid minerals sector.

He made this remark while paying a courtesy call on the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, over the weekend.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of Solid Minerals, Segun Tomori, stated that the Ambassador further stressed that France is fully committed to supporting Nigeria’s roadmap for mining development, with a very keen interest in investing in the rapidly developing solid minerals sector
In response to the visiting ambassador, 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.”

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The minister 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 an 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 whilst also 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 an emphasis on technical assistance, capacity building, and remediation of abandoned pits.

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

On Ambassador Marc Fonbaustier’s entourage were the French embassy’s head of regional economic department, Florent Mangin and Deputy head, regional economic department, Carole Lebreton.