By Sami Tunji
Nigeria’s Mining Cadastre Office has launched the Electronic Mining Cadastral Plus platform to enhance the digital administration and management of mineral titles in the country.
Speaking in Abuja November 2, the Director General of Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Simon Nkom, said that the eMC+ platform would ensure transparency and accessibility of information.
He said: “It is an electronic mining cadastral system and you are very much aware the mandate of the Nigerian mining cadastral is administration and management of mineral titles. So we must be able to now do it in the best way possibly.
“And at the end of the day, it is in line with the law, because when you look at practices of mineral titles in the world, you will know that there is a need to be able to now spice it up with principles, which are simply like priority, transparency and a lot of things which make it different from other countries and make people to come here.”
He added that with the new platform, local and foreign miners or investors could request for a mining licence from anywhere in the world with just a phone or personal computer.
The MCO DG said, “The electronic filing system initially was computerised, but now we have migrated to an online system, which simply means that you can stay anywhere in the world. You can even use your phone to be able to have access to this system. By the time you have access to the Mining Cadastre Office information, it makes the system very transparent and accessible.
“It can save time and also eliminate the stress of travelling. At the end of the day, you find out that it becomes more effective and more efficient and easily usable. You can use your phone or laptops to operate the eMC+.”
He also noted that through the new upgrade, the country could have an increase in revenue generation, adding that the transition to the more digitalised platform was through the support of a German consulting firm.
