The Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), has urged the government to provide incentives for mining operators to further raise the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP).
The National President of MAN, Mr Dele Ayankele, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, said this is hinged on the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, saying that government revenue from the sector increased significantly from N6 billion in 2023 to N38 billion in 2024.
Mr Alake attributed the surge to stricter licencing, the value addition policy, and measures against illegal mining.
The president of MAN said that although the factors listed by Mr Alake played a vital role in the revenue surge, it could be further increased through the provision of incentives for miners to boost their operations.
“There is a need to balance optimising revenue with providing incentives that improve investment climate and drive activities in the sector,” he said.
Mr Ayankele said that the rise in global demand for energy transition minerals also contributed substantially to the increase in revenue.
He explained that this was driven by increased investment in mining and a marked rise in production by both local and foreign interests in the Nigerian mining industry.
He said that the increment in licencing fees referred to by the minister as stricter licencing should not be a disincentive to operators.
“Maximising government fees, rents and royalties should not be exorbitant and be a disincentive to operators.
“We appreciate the passion and a lot of policy initiatives of the minister at improving mining contribution to our GDP and the national economy.
“We, however, believe that the revenue contribution could be higher if the policies can be tailored towards increase in the volume of operations.
“Which will increase mineral production, improve royalty collections as against licencing fees that are payable at fixed intervals.
“As at now, the huge increase in the licencing fees has sent a lot of indigenous small scale leaseholders out of mining business,” he said.
According to him, only operators who can afford the new fees mostly through partnerships with Chinese investors are in business, appealing to the minister to introduce a more friendly licencing regime.