In all ramifications, Nigeria is immensely endowed with numerous mineral resources. Every state in the country has some form of mineral deposit, waiting to be tapped for economic prosperity.
According to Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigeria has 45 different solid minerals buried in various locations across the country. But these minerals are largely untapped. Both local and foreign investors can leverage on this multi-billion-dollar market.
In its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017 to 2020, the Federal Government of Nigeria declared that solid mineral sector is one of the fast-growing sectors of the economy. The recognition of this is a window opening for investors to tap into the promising sector in Nigeria.
The solid minerals deposits in Nigeria are worth several trillion-dollar market, yet Nigeria losses billions of dollars every year for importing things that can be produced locally using these items.
“The commercial value of Nigeria’s solid minerals has been estimated to run into hundreds of trillions of dollars. The domestic mining industry is underdeveloped, … leading to the importation of commodities that can be produced locally,” NIPC says in its document.
Starting with gold, we begin a presentation of some of the major solid minerals found in Nigeria.
GOLD
One of the 45 mineral deposits in Nigerian soil is gold. As the world moves from paper money to electric money, gold remains a major source of keeping and preserving valuables and foreign reserves. When paper money disappears, gold remains.
According to a leading economist, Ken Rogoff, in his book, “The Curse of Cash”, gold’s role is likely to increase as cash fades away.
Nigeria has a good number of gold deposits across the country. Abuja, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Niger, Zamfara, Osun are among the states where gold deposits are waiting to be commercially tapped.
Most of gold mining activities are being carried out by the artisanal miners who are not licensed and regulated. Regulating and tapping into this sector will mean increased revenue for the government, returns for the investors and profits for companies.
“At the moment, government isn’t getting any revenue from the gold mining sector in Nigeria because mining is being done illegally. Regulating the sector and licensing local miners will add to the government’s revenue,” said Acheabong Boateng, CEO of Boateng Gold Inc., Kumasi, Ghana, in a telephone conversation.
However, these illegal miners may not have the financial strength to accommodate the demands from the government. Talking about “the conditions for licensing, all these small-scale miners can’t meet it, and these are the people at the local communities,” said Muda Yusuf, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The data from NIPC says that “Nigeria loses about $40 billion annually in unexploited gold alone.” This is a good market for somebody, somewhere!
JOSEPH MAURICE OGU
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