The 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.
“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.
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 and multilateral investors.
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