(Ecofin Agency) - Nigeria said it is in advanced negotiations with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) for a $500 million investment to develop its mining sector.

“We want this to be private sector driven so we have been in discussions withNSIA, the Nigerian sovereign investment authority and we are looking at a 500 million dollar fund from their side which will primarily focus on exploration (to attract foreign investors),” said Mining Minister, Kayode Fayemi.

The investment sought by the government falls in line with a project to diversify and revive Nigeria’s economy, whose growth has for long been pulled by oil. The country now wishes for mining to represent 10% of its GDP in the next decade, up from 0.3% presently.

Nigeria has multiple unexploited deposits containing 44 types of ores of which gold, iron ore, coal, zinc, and tin, spread across more than 500 sites. The only major foreign investor in Nigeria’s mining sector is Kogi Iron which operates at the Agbaja iron ore project.

Louis-Nino Kansoun