Nigeria's Gold Economy: Bridging Institutions to Unlock National Income

Nigeria's gold reserves offer a potential route to increased export earnings, reserve accumulation, formal employment, and industrial capability. However, mineral endowment alone does not create national income. Production must be measured, transactions must be traceable, export proceeds must enter the financial system, lawful public revenue must be collected, and host communities must share in the resulting value.

Suleyman A. Ndanusa, PhD, OON, compares Nigeria's emerging gold initiatives to those of South Africa, Ghana, and its own petroleum economy. In each case, institutional development was crucial for linking mining to finance, refining, infrastructure, and technical capacity. While these countries' experiences provide valuable lessons for Nigeria, the country must avoid reproducing their social injustices.

Nigeria has assembled various components for a gold economy, including formalization programs, licensed buying centers, domestic refining, development finance, and Central Bank reserve purchases. However, coordination is essential to realize their value. A national framework that integrates digital traceability, credible geological data, accessible finance, private investment, capital-market funding, security enforcement, environmental obligations, and transparent public reporting could turn scattered programs into an accountable gold economy.