In an effort towards improving the ease of doing business in the Mining Sector, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi on Thursday, November 9, 2017 launched the ministry’s Integrated Automation and interactive GIS Web Portal.
According to the Minister, the Web Portal which is a cutting edge initiative that leverage technology for innovation, efficiency and effectiveness in mineral sector governance is to increase provision of reliable information and knowledge to enhance promotion of investment in the sector and also increase the sector’s GDP contribution significantly.
“In furtherance to our mandate to improve the Ministry’s efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery, we conceived the need for a centralised GIS Web Portal with supporting ICT infrastructure and the automation of the ministry services; all backed up by requisite policy framework and human capital development for sustainability” Dr Fayemi further explained.
He listed the deliverables of the project among others to include; Business Process Re-engineering, building of a GIS Web Portal with a Business Automation System, content Management System (CMS), Geographic Information System (GIS), Decision Support System, collaboration and upgrade of the ICT infrastructure of the ministry.
The launch of the Web Portal which took place at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Abuja had in attendance, dignitaries and stakeholders in the mining sector. According to Dr. Fayemi, this was necessitated by the increased mining-related activities in Nigeria and a growing number of new entrants and participants.
Speaking earlier, the Minister of State, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Hon. Abubakar Bawa Bwari, said the Integrated Automation and interactive GIS Web Portal was a defining project which is intended to ease the process of obtaining mining licenses, encourage online payment of royalties and provide credible and timely intervention in the sector among others things.
He referred to it as a credible innovation which would make the sector more accessible to investors from any part of the world. He said the Web Portal was part of the Mining Road Map designed by the ministry to make the country a mining destination. Some of these plans according to him include legitimisation of artisan miners, improve funding for the sector, ensuring greater cooperation between States and Federal government and raising the contribution of mining to the GDP.
Honourable Bwari called for a deliberate plan to build railways along the nation major production corridor, construct roads to the hinterland where some of the precious resources lie beneath the earth, an improved power situation that would take advantage of the coal mines in the country and availability of funds to get bankable data that big mining companies need. All these according to Hon. Bwari are fundamentals that would make mining thrive in any country.
In his goodwill message, the Hon Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu who was represented by a Deputy Director in the Ministry, Professor Danladi Matawalle admitted that the mining sector is a very important sector as there is no sector of the economy where the impact of mining is not pronounced.
He pointed out that the mining sector has been designed to provide an avenue for the country to stop being a one commodity country and to have avenues that every country in the world that is developing has for growth. He stressed the need to ensure value addition and innovation to move mining from basic commodity to finished product for export and in the process create jobs and generate wealth.
The President, Women in Mining, Hon Janet Adeyemi in her goodwill message, commended the ministry for the launch of the Web Portal, which she said has brought about objectivity in doing business in the mining sector. She believed that the Web Portal has opened up the sector and made it easy to transact business online without knowing anyone in the ministry.
Women, according to Hon. Adeyemi, are voices which monitor the mining process and which compel miners to mine in a sustainable manner with the consideration to the environment. “when you impact the environment negatively it involves women and children which brings about poverty”. She believed the portal would make it easy to monitor and track miners and ensure that they perform their social responsibilities.
In his closing remark, the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Mohammed Abbas, while appreciating the efforts of the ministry’s officials towards the launch of the GIS Web Portal, called on relevant stakeholders to take advantage of the portal in transacting business with the Ministry.
Idowu Jokpeyibo
for: DD Press
Federal Ministry of Mines & Steel Development
