Nigeria launches plan to capture illegal gold sales to increase revenues
Nigeria plans to stem illegal gold exports worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year to boost the country’s foreign reserves, Bloomberg has reported.
Fatima Shinkafi, executive secretary of the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI), said that the program will regulate production by informal miners that currently provides no income to the state.
Oil sales are Nigeria’s main provider of hard currency, accounting for about half of government revenue and 90% of export earnings. Although the price of crude has rebounded and stabilized since a sharp plunge in March, the collapse has forced Buhari’s administration to devalue the naira as a decline in revenue sapped external reserves.
Nigeria’s gross reserves currently stand at $35.9 billion.
The price of gold has soared in recent months, reaching a record $1,988.40 an ounce on Monday. At current prices, the PAGMI program could add about $500 million to foreign reserves annually, as well as contribute $150 million in taxes, according to Shinkafi.