Nigeria to dig for Wealth at the mines.

 Nigeria’s diversification plan may still be on track. The nations mines

ministry says 50 mines would be operational by 2023.

 

COVID-19 brought home the reality that oil alone can’t be trusted to earn Africa enough revenue to cater for her citizens. The recent low oil price is a clear evidence of this.

The fall in all price resulted in an increase in the price of gold.

 

Nigeria’s Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite said, the pandemic has slowed things down, but we can catch up”. The nation has a projection of earning 3% from the both processing and available raw minerals.

 

An example is barite, which used for drilling oil and gas. And the market for it primarily is in Africa, where more exploration for black gold are being carried out.

 

The minister expects more artisanal miners to benefit from the new plan. This is possible when they form cooperative societies and sell the ores, mostly gold to government buying centres instead of illegal buyers who cheat them. The miners will in turn be able to pay tax to the government.

 

A major problem now is the location of most of the gold deposit, Nigeria’s North West. It is assumed that gold falling into the hands of insurgents had been contributing to the continuation of the conflict. This is another reason for Nigeria’s military to pacify the region and end the conflict.

 

Some investments for the sector are in Nigeria already. Thor Exploration is expected to start production by the second quarter of 2021