Nigerian-made Barite to save country US$300m annually – Minister
Story from Abah Adah, Abuja
Nigeria’s Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite has disclosed that the country is now prepared to save US$300 million annually from locally produced Barite as the launch of Nigerian-made Barite gets underway in less than a week in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
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The Minister who made the disclosure during a press briefing on Monday in his office in Abuja said the achievement is a major milestone along the roadmap created in 2016, adding that with the new development, importation of the mineral, which is so used in the oil industry, by the government to the tune of US$300 million every year would stop forthwith.
He said, “Nigeria has been spending $300 million annually importing barite into the country; effectively this will stop. We will go to the council, ask it to protect the local market, and there are two ways of doing so: the council in its wisdom could outrightly ban the importation of barite; on the other hand, it may choose tariff protection method for the local barite.
“But Nigeria is ready to supply Nigerian market with barite and also to export to other oil-producing countries around us such as Ghana, South Africa, etc. not just to conserve the foreign exchange for Nigeria but also to earn it through exportation of barite.
“So, we are coming up very shortly to the council with a downstream policy that will discourage exportation of barite ore; and by this, we are saying we must do some sought of beneficiation on any mineral ore in the country before exportation. This will of course create opportunities for investors, who may not necessarily want to get involved in mining, but would want to start processing plants.
“On Thursday 28th October, we will be launching proudly made in Nigeria Barite that is produced to API (America Petroleum Institute) standard. Already, we have 50 bags that have been produced and labelled proudly made in Nigeria. They are in Port Harcourt all ready for the launch.
“What we have done as a ministry since we came to office is to create linkages from the mines to the millers and from the millers to the baggers and of course to the market, and then we have the end product which is API standard.”
Adegbite noted that while making all the efforts towards achieving the feat, all stakeholders, including the local content monitoring body created by the federal government, were carried along in order to plug any loopholes that may create an avenue of excuse for those who might still want to export the Barite ore for selfish gains.
He also revealed that in the interest of continuity, an online portal has been created that connects all the players along the Barite value chain together, adding that though the government will gradually pull out for the market to thrive, the price of the Barite is set well below that of the international market.
“I think we are about 50% lower than the international price. This is just an offering to the market for starters; it is not meant to be a government thing, that is why the portal is set up, to run on its own, and to be managed by a consultant so that the miner gets his money from the portal after supply; the miller gets his own; the bag supplier gets his money; the government’s money in form of royalties is paid into a government account,” he explained.
While delivering his opening remark earlier, Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development Dr Uchechukwu Ogah expressed optimism that with this development there is going to be a lot of changes ranging from the creation of Jobs to the preservation of foreign exchange and unlocking more business opportunities.
In her remark, the Permanent Secretary, Dr (Mrs) Oluwatoyin Akinlade, who described the upcoming launch of Nigerian made Barite as a landmark event, appreciated all those involved in one way or the other in making the feat achievable, urging relentless efforts on the part of all stakeholders towards ensuring that more of such achievements are recorded in future in fulfilment of the ministry’s mandate for the sector.
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