Nigeria’s Leader Woos Australian Investors

President Goodluck Jonathan said Tuesday in Perth, Western Australia that his Administration will vigorously implement policies, programmes and projects that will ensure the rapid development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector in the next four years in furtherance of its efforts to create more job opportunities for the country’s youth.

Speaking at an interactive dinner with leading Australian mining and solid minerals investors, President Jonathan declared that he was passionately committed to the full development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector because of its huge potentials for boosting the national economy.

The President invited the leaders of Western Australia’s solid minerals industry to invest their resources, skills, expertise and technology in the development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.

“You are well known for solid minerals and you will find a lot to do in Nigeria,” he told Australian businessmen at the dinner.

President Jonathan also assured the gathering that his administration had the political will and commitment to fully implement all the regulatory reforms required to facilitate the entrance of more investors to Nigeria’s mining sector.

The President said that Australian investors were also welcome to invest in other under-developed sectors of the Nigerian economy such as agriculture, noting that the country was blessed with vast arable land on which almost anything can be grown.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga who also spoke at the occasion, told the Australian investors that Nigeria had over 33 solid minerals in sufficient quantities for commercial exploitation.

He also assured the assembled investors of the Jonathan Administrations total commitment to creating the enabling environment for the development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.

President Jonathan had kicked off his pre-Commonwealth Summit working visit to Australia earlier in the day by meeting with the Premier of Western Australia, Mr. Colin Barnett.

Western Australia with its huge solid minerals resources is the richest region in Australia.

President Jonathan told Mr. Barnett that his administration was working towards the full development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector to expand and diversify the country’s economic base.

“We have a lot to learn from you in solid minerals development and we look forward to establishing mutually-beneficial partnerships with Australian investors and industrialists,” he said.

Mr. Hugh Morgan, a leading Australian solid minerals developer who co-chaired the interactive dinner, proposed the establishment of a Joint Nigeria-Australia Trade and Investment Commission to promote economic cooperation between countries.