By Martha Agas
Experts in Nigeria’s gemstone industry have called for increased local processing, skills development and stronger market linkages to boost earnings, create jobs and maximise the sector’s economic potential.
They made the call during a panel discussion titled “Developing Nigeria’s Gemstone Value Chains” at the ongoing 11th Nigeria Mining Week in Abuja on Wednesday.
President of the Gemstone Miners and Marketers Association of Nigeria (GMMAN), Mr Adeniran Ajibade, said formalising artisanal mining would promote regulatory compliance and responsible environmental management.
He urged operators to organise artisanal miners into cooperatives and ensure compliance with Community Development Agreements (CDAs) and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs).
Ajibade also advocated expanded training in gemstone mining, cutting, processing and jewellery making to strengthen local capacity and create employment opportunities.
He called for training programmes across local government areas, stressing that wider access to specialised skills was essential.
“It is not a question of duplication of this skill. It is a question of proliferation of this skill,” he said.
Ajibade stressed the need for effective branding, grading and classification to improve the competitiveness of Nigerian gemstones in domestic and international markets.
“The development strategies are there. All we need to do is to start implementing by building skill across the entire value chain,” he said.
He urged government and private sector operators to sustain training and processing initiatives rather than treat them as one-off interventions.
Similarly, Adelia’s Country Manager, Mr Segun Okoh, advocated gemstone industry clusters that would bring mining, grading, processing and manufacturing facilities closer together.
Okoh said the clusters would reduce operational costs, facilitate value addition and connect miners with processors and buyers.
He said training programmes should combine technical expertise with financial literacy and business management to help skilled workers establish viable enterprises.
Okoh also called for standardised quality control and a formal market structure that rewarded operators who complied with regulations.
“First, standardised quality control. Second part is we have to ensure that following the right rules pays better than following the shortcuts,” he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Laurel School of Mining, Mr Tope Adebanjo, called for increased local gemstone processing and entrepreneurship development to retain more economic benefits within Nigeria.
Adebanjo said Nigeria needed skilled entrepreneurs in gemstone processing and jewellery production to strengthen the domestic industry.
He added that gemstone enhancement, evaluation and treatment were essential to increasing the commercial value of locally sourced stones.
Adebanjo expressed concern that Nigeria continued to export gemstones in their raw form, losing opportunities for local employment and value addition.
He urged government, training institutions and industry associations to collaborate in developing technical skills, promoting locally made jewellery and strengthening the domestic market.
The panellists said sustained investment in skills, processing infrastructure, branding and market access would help Nigeria build a competitive gemstone industry and create more jobs.
The 11th Nigeria Mining Week has the theme, ‘Unlocking Investment and Growth through Partnerships’.
The conference is organised by the Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Nigeria and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
(NAN)
