FG rates mining environment investors friendly

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has described the local environment as friendly for new investment in mining.

Adegbite revealed that the cost of gold mining, which is less than $700 in Nigeria, is comparatively cheaper than in other countries that require between $2,000 and $4,000 to take gold to the market.

The minister, at a press briefing ahead of the fifth edition of the yearly Nigerian mining week, scheduled to hold virtually from November 16 to 17, 2021, said Nigeria already grant investors 100 per cent ownership of mined minerals, to attract both foreign and local investors in the sector.

He said the mining week would create an opportunity for the ministry to tell investors about Nigerian mining and how to partner with it.

“There is capital in Nigeria, but a lot of Nigerian investors are not aware of the benefits of investing in mining. We are giving them this opportunity to attend this year’s mining week because the week will attract local investors with the capital to let them know that it is not just the mining itself but also participating in the process.

“We have tax laws that allow you a three-year tax holiday, which has been extended to five years. We allow investors to import the equipment for free without duty. We allowed 100 per cent ownership of investments in Nigeria. This does not apply in other climes. Some counties take 20 per cent without contributing the money but that is their rule, but Nigeria allows you to own your business 100 per cent, as a local or foreign investor,” he said.

He further noted that the country’s royalty is the lowest compared to other mining nations, adding that Nigeria charges 3.5 per cent, while other mining nations charge 17 to 20 per cent depending on the mineral mined.

In his remarks, the Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, explained that the mining week would draw participants from the entire ecosystem, mining companies, small-scale mining operators, investment companies, legal firms, as well as Government Agencies, multilateral investors.

He said: “It’s time for investors to come into the country to invest. It has come to the point that mining has become an evolving sector in the country and with a country of over 44 minerals shows that there’s a lot we can do for our nation,” he said.

In his address, President of Miners Association of Nigeria, Kabiru Mohammed Kankara, said the Nigeria Mining Week, has contributed in raising global awareness to the huge potentiality of the nation’s mineral endowments with the view of attracting local and foreign investments to transform endowments to national wealth.