President Muhammadu Buhari says improved gold mining operations in Nigeria will generate no fewer than 250,000 jobs and over $500m annually in royalties and taxes to the Federal Government.
President Buhari disclosed this at the official presentation of locally mined gold bars by the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative, PAGMDI, where he also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to establishing gold refineries in Nigeria.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said the initiative would support efforts at creating jobs for Nigerians, diversifying the revenue base, and improving foreign exchange reserves.
Reiterating the determination of the Federal Government to combat illegal mining activities, the President expressed concern that Nigeria lost close to $3b from 2012 – 2018 due to illegal smuggling of gold.
President Buhari noted that in addition to the potential revenue gains that will occur from mining operations, efforts are being made to enable the setting up of gold refineries in Nigeria.
He expressed optimism that these measures would lead to the creation of additional job opportunities across the gold value chain and also help the nation capture the additional value created from the gold refining process.
On environmental degradation, President Buhari pledged that the government would pay close attention to safety and environmental measures to protect workers and the environment.
The Nigerian leader also used the occasion to commend all stakeholders involved in the PAGMI for their painstaking efforts in developing a programme aimed at improved sourcing and refining of high-quality gold bars, derived from minefields in Nigeria.
The President recalled that the PAGMI, which was launched in 2019, was well-timed, considering the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and indeed on the Nigerian economy.
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He said the impact of COVID-19 and the containment measures designed to slow the spread of the virus, had led to a slowdown in global growth, which is projected to decline into negative territory for the first time since the great depression.
Emphasizing the benefits of the PAGMDI, the President explained that it would support job creation efforts particularly for artisanal miners, by providing them with a guaranteed off-take by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Furthermore, he said efforts are being made to support artisanal miners in improving the standard of the gold that will be sold to the apex bank, in order to ensure that they meet international benchmarks.
According to him, the initiative would enable the deployment of financing schemes that will help miners improve on the quality of their mining operations.