Impressed by the operations of the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (MCO), officials of South Sudan government in the mining sector on Friday, paid a working visit to the headquarters of MCO in Abuja with a view to seeking areas of mutual cooperation.
The visit is coming after the conclusion of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment (AFNIS) summit that ended in Abuja.
Welcoming the delegation led by the country’s director general of Geological Survey (Sudan Mining Corporation), Mr. James Kundu, the director general of MCO Engr Obadiah Nkom, said the visit which was earlier approved by the minister of solid minerals development, Dr Dele Alake is an indication that already a Memorandum of Understanding has been effected between the two countries.
The MCO boss took the visitors down memory lane about the various transformation of the agency till date. According to him, MCO was fully automated to web page system otherwise referred to as internet on November 1 2022.
“From analogue system, we computerised the system. In November 2022, we moved to electronic mining cadastral system. The migration further led to the creation of several departments like legal, lithograph and other important units that can make the works easier.
“We are under a ministry that supervises the procedures we use here. You have a lot to learn from us just as we also have a lot to learn from your own experiences. Whatever we are doing, we are trying to harmonise the West African nations. I believe this is a period for us to partner. Soon, we shall be in South Sudan to consolidate on this agreement,” Nkom said.
In his remarks, Kundu said the cadastral office in his country was established in 2015 and since then had engaged the services of several experts from Germany and Lebanon to help in upgrading their operating system all to no avail until a recent opportunity came through AFNIS where Dr Alake gave his indication for Nigeria and South Sudan to partner on areas of mining interest in the spirit of African brotherhood.