The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, on Wednesday, announced that the Federal Government was offering investors in Nigeria’s mining industry a three-year tax holiday in order to make it easier for them to operate within the country’s borders. This policy forms part of a wider long-term program initiated by the government to attract more foreign investors to explore, extract and utilize the abundant solid minerals embedded within Nigeria’s soil.
Mr. Fayemi made this known at the Africa Down Under Conference which was held in Perth, Australia. The minister explained that the tax holiday would apply to mining companies from the time they begin to operate in Nigeria.
The minister also talked about the government’s plan to develop the sector along a three-stage path. The first stage, the minister said, would focus on increasing domestic use of minerals by pursuing an import substitution strategy; efforts would then turn to expanding Nigeria’s minerals processing capacity; the final stage will follow from the first two, entailing the creation of a market driven globally competitive mining industry.
The Africa Down Under Conference is an annual forum which brings together investors, executives, financiers and government representatives, aims to make known the opportunities available in Africa for a largely non-African mining business investor community.