The Federal Government has disclosed that he had saved 300 million dollars (about N195 billion) a year on ban of importation of bauxite, a crucial material for oil drilling
At the ninth installment of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration Scorecard 2015 to 2023 series, which was hosted by the Ministry of Information and Culture on Tuesday in Abuja, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, made this announcement.
The scorecard series was launched as part of the efforts of the ministry to showcase the numerous achievements of the administration.
Adegbite said the ban on barite importation was part of the efforts of the Federal Government to ensure the downstream mineral policies took effect.
“When we came into office in 2019, we realised that the oil and gas industry use barite in their oil drilling and they were importing the mineral from Morocco to the tune of 300 million dollars every year, we also realised that the country has an abundance of barite deposits, but the problem was that we were not processing it.
“So, the ministry took it upon itself as a project and in 2021, we were able to produce made in Nigeria Barite with American Petroleum Institute (API) standard.
“Now, nobody is importing barite into Nigeria anymore saving the country 300 million dollars annually that was being spent on imports of barite to the country,’’ he said.
The minister said within a year of production, Nigeria had attained excess capacity of barite and making plans to export the mineral into places like Ghana and South Africa.
“These are places that have just discovered oil and of course they need barite as well.
“We will ensure they can get it cheaper to buy from Nigeria than to go to northern part of Africa,’’ he said.