Nigeria has the lowest gold export Royalty fee across the globe. The nation has the royalty fee accruable to government from gold export is 3% of the value of the export.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite at the ‘Lagos Love Gold’ event organised by Kian Smith Refinery in collaboration with the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, in Lagos.
The minister explained that the low rate was to encourage growth in the sector.
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He said, “One of the first things I did when I assumed office was to publish a pamphlet about the right way to export gold and we distributed the pamphlet all over the country and especially at the airport. It is perfectly legal for people to export gold out of the country. However it must be done in the right way,’ he said. The Minister added that the process of exporting gold had been streamlined.
“You pay a royalty and our royalty rate is about the lowest all over the world . It’s just 3% of the value of the gold you want to take. After you have fulfilled all the requirements, you would be given an export certificate which allows you to sell it anywhere in the world at the ongoing market rate.”
The Minister however warned that those who refused to pay royalty were cheating both themselves and the government. “You cannot have export certificate if you don’t pay royalty and because you don’t have the certificate you would be exploited by the foreign buyers who would buy it at a very low rate,” he added.
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Adegbite also reiterated the federal government’s resolve to diversify the economy through the mining sector. The minister noted that the government had implemented policies that had developed the sector and made it more business friendly.
“Nigeria as a country is blessed with so many minerals. Though the economy of Nigeria has been largely dependent on oil and gas but we are coming to a situation where we need to diversify the economy away from oil and gas and that’s what we are doing through the mining sector.
“Since I have been in office we have been trying to deepen our activities in the sector and we have been encouraging the private sector to come along with us as we act as facilitators to entrepreneurs. There is a lot of gold trading that has been going on in Nigeria although in the informal sector. What we have done is to come up with policies that would harness all activities and bring out people from the shadows,” he added.
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What you should know
- Adegbite had visited Segilola Gold Plant, earlier in the week where he reiterated the federal government’s commitment to grow the mining sector and support companies in the industry, according to Nairametrics.
- The minister, who inspected the plant, told Segilola that the visit was to lend support to the company and to inspect the level of work carried out at the site, expressing delight at the progress of work done.
- He said, “We want to make Nigeria a major gold producing hub in Africa and this is why the administration of president Buhari has given so much support to this sector to ensure that we diversify our economy away from oil.”
