SUN MAY 12 2024-theGBJournal| President Bola Tinubu urged the Chinese firms building the lithium processing plant in Lafia, Nasarawa State, to prioritize environmental protection, community engagement, and corporate social responsibility initiatives as integral parts of their operations.
The President made the call Friday during a meeting with Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, who was accompanied by Mr. Hi Yongwei, Chairman of Avatar New Energy Materials Company Limited, and Mr. Zhenhua Pei, Chairman, Canmax Technologies.
The President Bola Tinubu had commended the inauguration of Nigeria’s largest lithium ore processing plant in Lafia, Nasarawa State, hailing it as a clear indication of the country’s attractiveness for foreign investment.
Avatar, a Chinese firm, built the lithium processing plant which produces about 4,000 metric tonnes daily.
Canmax Technologies, a renowned Chinese firm responsible for over 30% of global battery material production, announced a new investment of $200 million for another lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State.
According to the President, ”There are other aspects of lithium that you are exploring in the country, especially in battery production. Nigeria is a huge market for solar panels. Africa is a major consumer of solar technologies.
I do not see why these panels and batteries cannot be produced here. The labour is cheaper. Our youths are vibrant and skilled. Our people are brilliant and adapt to new technology.
”You must not leave the community in ruins as you explore for our high-grade minerals. You must be concerned with cooperation and always care for the community.
”We are caring partners. We want your investments to succeed so that you can expand further. Whenever you call on us, we will help you. You can, in mutually-beneficial collaboration with us, dominate the solar panel market as part of a revolution in Africa and the West African sub-region.
”You can always promote the interest of China and Nigeria as the best place in Africa to do business. We are preparing to produce in this country the solar technologies that the entire continent will use,” the President said.
President Tinubu also applauded Governor Sule and the Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr. Dele Alake, for their dedication to ensuring environmental protection and value addition by mining firms operating in the country.
In his remarks, Governor Sule thanked the President for his unflinching support toward solid mineral development in the country and for sending Senate President Godswill Akpabio to represent him at the inauguration.
”The company that we just commissioned today in Nasarawa is a 500-million-dollar turnover company. They are happy, and they have seen enough potential to mine lithium in the region for the next 15 to 20 years,’’ the Governor said.
In his remarks, Mr. Alake said the ministry has embarked on proactive measures to address the risks posed by abandoned mines across the country, left behind by colonialists in the 1950s and 1960s.
”We are in the process of putting in place remedial measures, converting some of them into constructive uses, like farming and irrigation.
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