The Director-general of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), Alex Ndubuisi Nwegbu, has been elected and sworn in as President of the Organization of African Geological Surveys (OAGS).
Nwegbu took over from Anna Nguno, from the Republic of Namibia and will head the association for three years, following his investiture in Cape Town, South Africa last week.
Nwegbu in his acceptance speech said, “I would like to say that I am honoured to stand before you to accept the responsibility on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to lead the new executive. I also stand here on behalf of the executive committee to say thank you for electing us to serve in our new capacity.”
OAGS started in South Africa ten years ago as an initiative of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) through the African Mining Partnership (AMP).
Its mandate involves delivering on some strategic objectives, including capacity building for industry players, sharing knowledge, achieving financial stability, and constructive engagement with development partners towards effective utilization of African resources in order to develop the continent’s economy.
Government institutions, political leaders, civil society groups and private sector companies now commonly agree that without prudent exploitation and utilisation of natural resources in Africa, the continent stands to remain at the bottom of global economic development ladders, while continuously feeding other regions of the world with requite raw materials to develop their own economies.