Nigeria’s economy will be hitting another milestone as it begins refining Gold under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, presented the president with a made-in- Nigeria gold bar, signifying the beginning of Nigeria’s move to use the precious stone to boost its foreign reserves.
The 12.5kg gold bar, which was processed and refined in Nigeria in accordance with the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) standards to be used as a reserve instrument by the CBN was purchased by the apex bank for N268,608,236.00.
The cheque for the sum was presented to the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMDI) by Emefiele during the presidential launch of the gold purchase programme at the Presidential Villa, Abuja,
The event, an outcome of the PAGMDI, a comprehensive artisanal and small-scale gold mining development programme, launched by the president in 2019, marked the beginning of the nation’s gold purchase programme through the CBN.
Expressing his excitement at the new milestone, Buhari said Nigeria lost $3 billion to illegal smuggling of gold between 2012 and 2018.
However, the president added that improved gold mining operations in the country could generate 250,000 jobs and over $500 million monetary value annually through the payment of royalties and taxes to government coffers.
The president, at the official presentation of locally mined gold bars by the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMDI) in Abuja yesterday, said his administration was committed to the task of establishing gold refineries in Nigeria.
Source: Thisdaylive
