….says sector contributes 0.63% to nation’s GDP in 2021
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has reported that the Federal Government generated about N814.59 billion from the solid minerals sector in the past 15 years.
The Executive Secretary of the organization, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, made this disclosure during the unveiling of its 2021 Solid Minerals Industry Report, tagged: “Impact built on blocking leakages to grow revenue” by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, represented by Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Maurice Mbaeri, on Monday in Abuja.
The report, the 12th in the series, indicated that in 2021, the government raked in N193.59 billion from the sector being payments by 1,214 companies operating in the sector and receipts from three key government agencies.
It also covers the quantities of minerals produced, utilised and exported from the sector, reconciles the physical/financial transactions and undertakes special verification on some processes.
Presenting the report, Orji, who described the N814.59 billion contributions by the sector to the federation account in 15 year as low, said the 2021 figures showed an increase of N60.32 billion or 51.89% growth when compared to the 2020 revenue flows of N116.82 billion, adding that this reflected a sustained improvement of the performance of the sector over the past five years.
According to him, despite the improvement, the performance of the sector still remains abysmal considering its potential to the nation’s economy.
On solid minerals’ contribution to the economy, Orji noted that the report indicated that the sector contributed 0.63% to the nation’s GDP in 2021, compared to its 0.45% contribution in 2020 and 0.26% the preceding year.
Orji said the 2021 solid minerals report reviewed, ascertained, reconciled and reported all revenues and investment flows to and from government in the solid minerals sector as well as covered balances payable/receivable from financial inflows, tracked the funds and utilisation meant for the development of solid minerals in Nigeria.
He listed the funds as including the Natural Resources Development Fund; Solid Minerals Development Fund; Ministry of Mines and Steel Development’s MinDiver programme; and Solid Minerals Development Funds under the small and medium industries equity investment scheme operated through the Bank of Industry (BoI).
The NEITI boss explained that when analyzed based on the collections by the revenue agencies, the 2021 collections were by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which collected N169.52 billion; Mining Cadastre Office, which generated N4.3 billion while the Mining Inspectorate Department generated N3.62 billion.
On production, Orji said the report disclosed that the total volume of solid minerals used or sold in 2021 was 76.28 million tons with a royalty payment of N3.57 billion.
He clarified: “The minerals with the largest production volume in the year under review are Granite, Limestone, Laterite, Clay and Sand.
“Dangote Plc accounted for the highest production with a total production of 28.8 million tons. Bua and Lafarge accounted for 8.4 and 4.3 million tons while Zeberced accounted for 3.3 million tons respectively.
“Ogun state recorded the highest production in the year under review, with a total of 17.5 million tons followed by Kogi state with 16.3 million tons and Edo with 8 million tons.
“The least production volume was recorded in Borno State with 25,500 tons”, Orji added.
The NEITI boss further disclosed that 2,045 licences were issued with exploration licenses accounting for 840 (increase of 62.79 per cent); small scale mining lease 771; quarry lease 255; reconnaissance permit 139; and mining leases 40.
He also hinted that on export, the total minerals exported in 2021 was 142.54 million tons with a Free on-Board value of $101.29 million, an increase of 138.57 per cent from the $42.46 million reported in the 2020 report.
