Marc Fonbaustier, French ambassador to Nigeria, has reaffirmed his nation’s commitment to being Nigeria’s formidable ally in developing the solid minerals sector.
The ambassador made the commitment while paying a courtesy call on Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, over the weekend, a statement issued by the Ministry stated.
The ambassador stressed that France is fully committed to supporting Nigeria’s roadmap for the mining development, with a very keen interest in investing in the rapidly developing solid minerals sector
In response to the visiting ambassador, Alake acknowledged France’s frontline position among prospective stakeholders interested in the solid minerals sector.
He said France had shown “enthusiasm, commitment, and readiness to implement tangible projects.”
“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,” he added.
The minister reiterated that the core agenda of President Tinubu’s policy initiatives has been the diversification of the economy, with 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 while also fine-tuning areas of collaboration to concretise partnership based on the earlier signed MOU.
Recall 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 emphasis on technical assistance, capacity building, and remediation of abandoned pits.
Corroborating the ambassador, Carole Libreton, deputy head of the Regional Economic Department, expressed France’s readiness to fund projects in the mining corporation and collaborate with the ministry to galvanise French companies for development of the mining value chain.
(BusinessDay)
