The Federal Government is aiming to maximize the mining industry’s potential in order to increase economic diversification.
This was said by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, in Abuja when the Lagos Futures and Commodities Exchange (LCFE) gave her a gold coin.
Ahmed reaffirmed the government’s commitment to enhancing economic diversification by slowly expanding other sectors, in particular the ecosystem for trading commodities.
Activating the mining sector’s potential: She cited the presentation as evidence of the Federal Government’s commitment to enhancing its economic diversification initiatives.
The Federal Government, it is aiming to maximize the mining industry’s potential in order to increase economic diversification.
This was said by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, in Abuja when the Lagos Futures and Commodities Exchange (LCFE) gave her a gold coin.
Ahmed reaffirmed the government’s commitment to enhancing economic diversification by slowly expanding other sectors, in particular the ecosystem for trading commodities.
Activating the mining sector’s potential: She cited the presentation as evidence of the Federal Government’s commitment to enhancing its economic diversification initiatives.
Although the mining industry is still extremely modest today, the government is to blame. But there are extremely active mining activities taking place in the private sector and, I’m happy to report, now in the United States. Unfortunately, up until this point, we have not fully benefited from mining activity. The majority of mining activities have been artisanal, and many participants steal our resources without reporting it to the government or even the miners receiving full compensation.
According to the Minister, the President approved and established the Presidential Gold Mining Scheme, under the direction of the Solid Minerals Development Agency, in an effort to capture the entire value of mining activities in the nation.
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They had established a pilot program that had its origins in Kebbi State, where they helped artisanal miners be able to use better mining techniques as well as off-take the minerals they mined and perform some first-level refinement. “The importance for us is to begin to hold our reserves in minerals like gold so that our reserves are not all in US dollars,” the Central Bank said. “Then the Central Bank offtakes this and sends it outside of the country for proper mining. We are aware of what may and does happen to US currency. We are starting to have gold reserves.
Refineries for petroleum products have started operating in Nigeria as a result of the scheme, which was launched by the Federal Government, she said, noting that the refinery in Ilesha, Segilola, was the country’s first to receive a license.
Currently, this gold is mined in Nigeria, refined there till it produces billions, and then sold to the CBN and other organizations like the LCFE. They are also stepping forward to make it easier for Nigeria’s commodities exchange to trade gold. We wanted to be able to activate the complete circle, and that’s what we desired. Off-take was what was lacking, but now that it is being addressed, demand will be boosted.
“Once there is market demand, producers will be motivated to increase output, there will be more jobs, and we will start to see more banks financing this mining sector. Due of the lengthy gestation time, banks were formerly less inclined to fund the mining industry. The investment was worthwhile, and we will support these companies as they expand and increase their output. I want to congratulate the LFCE for accomplishing this as the first of its type in Nigeria.
I appreciate the SEC’s efforts to advance the Investments and Securities Bill because it establishes the legal and regulatory foundation for the capital market and, consequently, the ecosystem supporting commodities trade.
We are hopeful that the bill would pass so that we can control the commodities market and the money that is evaporating from Nigeria. We need that bill to pass in order for us to work more efficiently, he continued.