NEXIM Bank to collaborate with Ministry of Mines and Steel Development

13 Jun 2017
Financial Nigeria

Summary

NEXIM Bank finances businesses operating in the value-chain of Nigeria’s non-oil export sectors.

NEXIM Bank CEO Abubakar Bello

The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM Bank) has disclosed its readiness to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development. This was expressed by Abubakar Bello, Managing Director and CEO of NEXIM Bank, when he paid a courtesy visit to the Honourable Minister of Mines and Steel, Kayode Fayemi, last Friday in Abuja.

Solid minerals, and three other sectors of the economy, namely manufacturing, agriculture (agro-processing) and services have been the focus of the activities of NEXIM Bank within the non-oil sectors, according to Bello. In promoting these sector, the Bank is in alignment with the efforts of the federal government to diversify the economy, create jobs and increase both the value and sources of foreign exchange earnings in the country.

As part of its support to the solid minerals sector, NEXIM Bank provides financing and advisory services for the mining industry. The Bank provides at its corporate headquarters in Abuja free office accommodation to the Miners’ Association of Nigeria.
 
Fayemi expressed his appreciation for the recognition of the NEXIM Bank’s CEO of the importance of a strong synergy between the Ministry and the Bank. The honourable minister used the opportunity to brief the executive team of the Bank on the recent inauguration of the newly-constituted Board of the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) on May 25.

The fund seeks to address the fundamental sectoral challenge of underfunding, which has for a long time been undermining the growth of the sector. The SMDF, Fayemi said, is an important milestone in government’s efforts to reposition the Nigerian mining industry.

He said the Solid Minerals Roadmap, to which the SMDF would provide support, prioritises the development of seven strategic minerals (7SM), namely coal, bitumen, limestone, iron Ore, barytes, gold and lead/zinc. However, he stated that the list does not preclude investments in other viable solid minerals, considering that the Roadmap clearly targets the integration of artisanal miners into the formal sector.
 
Concluding, Fayemi said that the government is quite keen in solid mineral beneficiation as a way to bring value addition to the sector and also boost local content and import substitution.

Established in 1991 as an export credit agency, NEXIM Bank finances businesses operating in the value-chain of Nigeria’s non-oil export sectors. It manages the recently created N500 billion Export Stimulation Facility and N50 billion Export Rediscounting and Re-financing Facility of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Both funds are mandated to lend at single-digit interest rate.


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