For the first time, Nigeria has purchased locally mined gold to be used as gold reserve instruments in the Central Bank. President Buhari, Thursday, issued a cheque of N268 million to the Presidential Artisinal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) for 12.5 kilogrammes of refined gold.
This implies that the gold, which meets the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) standards, as a property of the Nigeria’s External Reserves will boost the Nigerian gold reserves with the Naira and not with Dollars – a feat vital to the growth of the country’s economy.
President Buhari launched the PAGMI, in a virtual launch, at the Abuja State House, today, empowering local miners, under the PAGMI programme, to be able to artisinally mine, process and refine gold, as well as become a sole supplier to the CBN.
The PAGMI is a comprehensive artisanal and small-scale gold mining development programme, launched, in 2019, to foster the formalization and integration of artisanal gold mining activities into Nigeria’s legal, economic, and institutional framework.
The PAGMI was launched, following a spike in illegal mining activities in the country, which resulted in $3 billion dollar losses between 2012 and 2018.
In a statement signed by the State House, it was explained the operations would begin with Kebbi and Osun states, with Kaduna and Zamfara states to commence after the pilot stage.
The statement also explained that: “Using a Centralized Offtake and Supply System supported by a Decentralized Aggregation and Production Network, PAGMI will buy all the gold produced by artisanal and small-scale miners and aggregated by licensed buying centers and aggregators for supply to the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
During the virtual launch, President Buhari also assured that the PAGMI will result in the creation of over 500,000 new mining and formalized jobs, leading to poverty alleviation for more than 1 million households.
President Buhari also said that improved gold mining operations in the country will generate over $500 million annually in royalties and taxes to the Federal Government.
