Nigeria seeks to boost mining reserves to lure investors

Nigeria plans to spend 15-billion naira ($42-million) over the next year to explore for minerals and attract investors into mining and reduce its dependence on oil, Solid Minerals Development Minister Kayode Fayemi said. “Because we are starting from a low base, we want to have a portfolio of exploration activities in place that could whet the appetite of the average investor who wants to come in,” Fayemi said in an Oct. 18 interview in the capital, Abuja. They will be able to “drill down when they have that baseline information,” he said.