Mining and Mineral Extraction (Non-Oil)

There are tremendous opportunities in this sector also, and government has invested heavily in the generation of vital information on minerals? Outstanding among these are coal, gypsum, barytes, kaolin and talc. Nigeria has one of the best quality coal deposits in the world with the lowest sulphur content. The names, location, quantity and possible industrial exploitation of some solid minerals are as follows:-

(i) Barytes : 41,000 and 70,000 tonnes of which are found in Benue and Plateau State respectively, are used as inert volume and weight filler in drilling mud, rubber, glass, paper, etc. or as extender in the plant industry, and as chemicals in the manufacture of glass, heavy printing paper and plastics;

(ii) Coal : 82.2 million tonnes, 189 million tonnes and 32 million tonnes of which are found in Enugu, Benue and Plateau States, respectively. It is used as fuel and in industrial production of tar, gas and non edible oils;

(iii) Diatomite: 200,000 tonnes of which are found in Borno State; is used in making insect control powder, bond for furnace brick walls and mineral fillers and filters;

(iv) Lignite: 71million tonnes of which are found in Delta State; is used in industrial production of tar, gas, oils and (nitrate) fertilizer;

(v) Columbite: 14,223 tonnes of which are found in Plateau State; is used in forming alloys that are useful in nuclear, aerospace and gas turbine engineering;

(vi) Iron Ore: 30.48 million tonnes, 182.5 million tonnes and 45.72 million tonnes of which are found in Agbaja in Plateau State, Okene in Kogi State and Enugu State, respectively, is used for making steel, transformer and motor cars, ferrous sulphate from waster liqueur of the steel picking process or by the direct reaction, metals for electrical shielding, electro-magnetic devices, electric bells, electric fan cage, equipment rack, instrument body, engineering works, hydrated salt, iron oxide pigments,various salts of iron and ferrites and chemicals;

(vii) Tin: 10,546 tonnes of which are found in Plateau State; is employed in plating, production of tin oxide used in paint, paper and ink industries, production of tin oxide resistors, electric lead wires.

Export Manufacture

In recent studies by the Federal Ministry of Industry, activities identified in respect of export market potential include:

(a) Agricultural produce processing, food and beverages;

(b) Textiles: yarn /textiles, apparel, leather and products of leather (including footwear of rubber and plastics);

(c) Wood: furniture;

(d) Paper, paper products;

(e) Iron and steel, non-ferrous metals;

(f) Fabricated metal products, and

(g) Consumer durables.

It is recommended that industries in Nigeria should specialize in these sectors in which it is found that Nigeria has comparative advantage relative to the operation of such industries in other countries.

Agriculture in Africa

Around 60 percent of African workers are employed by the agricultural sector, with about three-fifths of African farmers being subsistence farmers. Subsistence farms provide a source of food and a relatively small income for the family, but generally fail to produce enough to make re-investment possible. Larger farms tend to grow cash crops such as coffee, cotton, cocoa, and rubber. These farms, normally operated by large corporations, cover tens of square kilometres and employ large numbers of labourers.
The situation whereby African nations export crops to the West while millions on the continent starve has been blamed on developed countries including Japan, the European Union and the United States. These countries protect their own agricultural sectors with high import tariffs and offer subsidies to their farmers, which many contend leads the overproduction of such commodities as grain, cotton and milk. The result of this is that the global price of such products is continually reduced until Africans are unable to compete, except for cash crops that do not grow easily in a northern climate.[14]

Because of these market forces, in Africa excess capacity is devoted to growing crops for export. Thus, when civil unrest or a bad harvest occurs, there is often very little food saved and many starve. Ironically, excess foodstuffs grown in developed nations are regularly destroyed, as it is not economically viable to transport it across the oceans to a market poor in capital. Although cash crops can expand a nation's wealth, there is often a risk that focusing on them rather than staples will lead to food shortages and hunger.

In modern years countries such as Brazil, which has experienced great progress in agricultural production, have agreed to share technology with Africa to greatly increase agricultural production in Africa to make it a more viable trade partner.[15] Increased investment in African agricultural technology in general has the potential to greatly decrease poverty in Africa.[16] The demand market for African cocoa is currently experiencing an enjoyable price boom.[17] The South African[18] and Ugandan governments have targeted policies to take advantage of the increased demand for certain agricultural products[19] and plan to stimulate agricultural sectors.[20] The African Union has plans to heavily invest in African agriculture [21] and the situation is closely monitored by the UN.[22]