Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Fati Shinkafi, says contrary to uninformed perceptions, the Economic and Growth Recovery Plan of the Federal Government is a realistic economic strategy.
Speaking with The Point in an exclusive interview, Shinkafi said the Fund had put in place modalities that would reposition the sector to play its expected role in the execution of the Gold Purchase Scheme anchored by the Central Bank of Nigeria, in conjunction with the leadership of the solid minerals sector.
She recalled that this year, the Nigerian economy was projected to accelerate to 2.1%, signifying a rise from the 0.8 per cent in 2017 as it overcomes its worst recession in over two decades.
Shinkafi noted that the multi-sector approach to economic recovery is vital to sustain the development, stating that the SMDF had embarked on providing assistance to artisanal and small-scale miners, whose activities are crucial to the supply of gold needed to feed the Gold Purchase Scheme.
According to her, a gold purchase program is being established through the ERGP. “Gold refinery licences are already being issued, and we are moving the economy forward, especially because gold is now a safe haven for storing wealth as an alternative to the US dollar.”
While saying that the scheme was a special purpose instrument needed to drive the economic diversification agenda of the Buhari administration, she expressed confidence that the ongoing efforts to revive the sector had started yielding desired results, adding that people were being empowered.
“It is similar to the anchor borrowers’ programme where small-holder farmers and small-holder miners will be empowered. Aggregation will happen and buying centres will be spread across the country and would be equipped to enhance value addition,” she added.
