Nigeria loses $5bn to gold smuggling

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) to further ensure probity and best practices in the mining sector as the country lost $5 billion to gold smuggling in six years.

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Uche Ogar, who led the delegation said between 2012 and 2018, $5 billion in gold was illegally smuggled out of Nigeria.

President Buhari then demanded a six-month progress report on the Solid Minerals Development Fund designed to capture accruals from investments, to ensure transparency in the sector.

At a briefing by the Steering Committee and Management Team of PAGMI in Abuja, the President charged the team to scale up operations in the mining sector by ensuring that investments go beyond artisanal and small-scale levels.

He expressed support to the Steering Committee’s target of aggregating 3-5 tons of gold over the next 12 months, urging them to capitalise on their successful pilot scheme in Kebbi State to roll out and expand sustainably across other states.

President Buhari urged PAGMI to ensure that the Solid Minerals Development Fund fast-tracks delivery of other directives to support the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative.

He said the Responsible Mining Framework presented would result in an effective and transparent gold supply chain, and demonstrate efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, human rights abuses, and respect for the environment.

Executive Secretary of the Solid Mineral Development Fund, Hajiya Fatima Umaru Shinkafi requested the President to increase the capitalisation of the fund to extend to other states requesting its intervention, which will enable the committee to meet up with its 5-ton target.

She called for support of the funding of targeted explorations to catalyse private sector investment and transform PAGMI into a large-scale operator to sustain the initiative.