FG Officially Launches International Gemstone Market In Ibadan

• Federal Government has officially launched the first international gemstone market in Nigeria in the city of Ibadan in Oyo State.

• The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, disclosed this during the commissioning of the market.

• The informal nature of the gemstone market in Ibadan led to poorly regulated trading, which resulted in capital flights and job losses.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Federal Government has officially launched the first international gemstone market in Nigeria in the city of Ibadan, Oyo State. The market is expected to boost the economies of Oyo State, the Southwest region, and Nigeria while also increasing the internally-generated revenue (IGR) for the state.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, disclosed this during the commissioning of the market. He stated that the decision to establish the market in Ibadan was based on the rich deposits of gemstones in the region.

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According to Adegbite, the informal nature of the gemstone market in Ibadan led to poorly regulated trading, which resulted in capital flights and job losses.

The Gemstone Market is part of the Federal Government’s initiative to facilitate economic recovery across the nation. Adegbite noted that the market would not only boost the economy of Oyo State but also encourage foreign investment in the Southwest region. He expressed the hope that the market would create 20,000 jobs along the gemstone mining value chain in the Southwestern zone.

Adegbite emphasized that the establishment of the market was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic diversification agenda, which focuses on the mining and agriculture sectors.

The International Gemstone Market in Ibadan for the Southwest Zone is one of the six strategic Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) Cluster Projects designed by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in the six geopolitical zones to harness the potential of over three million ASM operators in the country.

The Minister highlighted the Federal Government’s efforts to open up potentials available in the mining sector to serve as an alternative revenue source.

He stated that the project would create an enabling environment to support the mining industry through the formalization of the ASM sub-sector as a major driver of key growth parameters to engender the development of the mining sector since over 90% of the mining activities in the country were ASM-driven.

According to Adegbite, the International Gemstone Market is a crafted policy to spur job creation and capacity development of gemstone mining operators in Oyo State and environs through the Economic Growth and Sustainability Plan of the Federal Government.

He disclosed that the market would house several Federal Government initiatives geared towards curbing the smuggling of gemstones and other minerals as well as developing the capacities of youths to actively participate in the downstream gemstone and gold value chain.

The market is expected to create over 20,000 jobs along the gemstone mining value chain in the Southwestern zone cluster. The Minister also hinted that the market would be self-sustaining because there had been over-subscription by people who wanted to have shops there. He assured that the facility managers would ensure the facilities do not depreciate so much that anytime people come there, the facilities will be in top shape.

The Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources in the state, Seun Ashamu, who represented Governor Seyi Makinde, noted that the project complements the diversification plans of the governor and would surely boost the state’s IGR. The Okere of Saki, Oba Khalid Olabisi, who spoke on behalf of the traditional rulers, called for the empowerment of local miners to boost the mining industry.

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The permanent secretary in the ministry, Dr. Oluwatoyin Akinlade, disclosed that the project was one out of six projects embarked upon by the Ministry, adding that one in each of the geopolitical zones of the country as part of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic to boost the value-chain of the minerals and metals sector and to cushion the effects of the pandemic on the country’s artisanal and small miners.

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