The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Oladele Alake, has urged mineral-rich African countries to use the proven mineral reserves of their countries as equity in joint ventures as an alternative to loans.
He also encouraged African leaders to stop accepting financial agreements that lead to chronic indebtedness and worsen the plight of their people.
According to a statement signed by the minister’s Special Assistant to the minister on Media, Segun Tomori, on Monday, Alake stated this while speaking at a Ministerial Roundtable on Powering Africa in Washington DC, USA.
He bemoaned the unwholesome pressure exerted on African governments by loan marketers, despite global concerns over the declining capacity of many countries to settle their debts.
Alake, who doubles as the chairman of the African Minerals Strategy Group, the body of ministers of mining and mineral development in Africa, canvassed an alternative to loans, which he defined as using proven mineral reserves as equity.
