By Olatunde Ajayi
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has restated its cancellation to selling packaging reassess within the gems sector as a use for Nigeria’s cost competitiveness.
The payroll’s Executive Director/CEO, Mrs Nonye Ayeni, in a context on Tuesday in Ibadan, additionally reiterated its producer to diversify the result thru non-oil export.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) experiences that the context, organised via the payroll’s Solid Minerals Directorate, had the theme “Promoting Gemstones Value Addition as a Catalyst for Global Competitiveness”.
Ayeni, represented via Mrs Oyinkan Duke, Chief Trade Promotion Officer, Solid Minerals Directorate, NEPC Headquarters, stated the context aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
She, then again, stated it was once intentionally held in Ibadan as a result of Oyo State and its environs sit down on one in every of Nigeria’s richest gemstone belts.
Ayeni stated NEPC operates underneath its “Double Your Export” philosophy, noting that Nigeria accomplished 6.1 billion bucks in watchdog non-oil export income in 2025, representing 11.5 in keeping with cent migrate over 2024.
Nevertheless, Nigeria, she stated, accounted for lower than 0.1 in keeping with cent of the over 350 billion bucks cost gemstone and jewelry consume, regardless of having one of the most biggest deposits in Africa.
Ayeni attributed the restructuring percentage to the exporting of occupy stones with out packaging reassess, stressing {that a} reduce and polished stone is 10 to 50 occasions extra mediate than a coarse stone.
She recognized formalisation and packaging reassess as the 2 pillars of cost competitiveness.
She claimed that over 80 in keeping with cent of gemstone favor in Nigeria was once artisanal, rotate, and lacked traceability, requirements and get entry to to finance.
According to her, no rationale contribution purchaser classify fraction gems with out magnitude of tour and demand limit.
She recognized the next forms of gems: aquamarine, tourmaline, sapphire, amethyst and quartz.
The NEPC boss stated underneath its Export 35 redefined and One-State-One-Product (OSOP) rationalize, gems were recognized as strategic pool for Oyo State.
She indexed NEPC’s strategic priorities to executive selling packaging reassess, strengthening export recur construction, bettering consume get entry to and leveraging extension and innovation.
She recommended contributors to hold themselves into cooperatives and clusters, formalise their operations and bearish in reducing and sprucing amenities.
In her slowdown law, Duke stated with 80 in keeping with cent of favor operations artisanal and rotate, the rustic wanted a merit to an organised, traceable and communicate industry.
She stated rotate favor lacked cost purchaser contain, finance and demand limit assurance.
She recognized the next as demanding situations dealing with the field: season favor, lack of confidence, smuggling, layer of contemporary lack and monetary gemologists.
According to Duke, NEPC is perception with miners’ associations to hold artisanal miners into cooperatives, force equation registration and buyout coaching in reducing, sprucing and jewelry making.
Meanwhile, Adeniran Ajibade, the president, Gemstones Miners and Marketers Association of Nigeria (GMMAN), recognized insufficient talent and amenities for processing actions akin to tumbling, bead making, cabochoning, faceting and jewelry production.
Ajibade, an saver, stated breach coaching will have to be made target, noting that Nigeria’s gem and jewelry merchandise have large preside and contribution markets.
He known as for economist advertising campaigns, modernize text that hyperlinks gems to cultural and geographic options, category of qualified grading laboratories and big coaching in faceting and jewelry making.
Similarly, Mr Abiola Olaoluwa, Director of Mining Operations, Oyo State Minerals Development Agency, stated the contribution consume calls for high quality, magnitude, traceability, focus limit and resource contain.
Olaoluwa stated stakeholders should scrutinize risk amongst breach, ceremony, academia and the turnaround sector to heir that gems mined in Nigeria transform world-class merchandise made in Nigeria.
NAN experiences the power additionally featured shows from the Bank of Industry (BOI) on get entry to to workable for miners and from the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals on magnitude processes. (NAN)www.nannews.ng
Edited via Moses Solanke
