Nigeria will be hosting the first-ever West Africa Gold conference in its commercial capital, Lagos state. The conference, organized by the Kian Smith Gold Refinery with support from advisory firm Noemdek Ltd, aims to begin high-level discussions on gold mining in West Africa.

The conference will bring together 150 gold stakeholders from more than 14 countries on the continent. The conference is themed “Gold West Africa”, and will feature dialogues on how to position Nigeria as an important gold mining hub in West Africa.

Analysts have often mentioned that for the gold mining sector in Nigeria to develop, the country has to shift discussions from “gold exploration and mining” to “gold market and economy”.

“The Gold West Africa Conference is focused on developing the gold value chain in the region towards establishing West Africa as a gold market center. The development of the gold value chain in Nigeria has strong dependencies on gold, trade and monetary policies across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the geographical region of Sub-Saharan Africa.” Nere Teriba, the Managing Director of Kian Smith Trade & Co Ltd, said.

The conference aims to establish West Africa as a gold trading hub by encouraging public and private partnerships around gold, and also increase revenue for countries that are rich with gold in West Africa e.g. Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, etc.

Africa has one of the best potentials for future gold mining, with gold in large deposits on the continent, especially West Africa. There are four West African countries on the list of African countries with the richest gold mines; Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Cote D’Ivoire. Africa is rich in mineral resources, with gold exploration leading colonizers to call what is now known as Ghana the “Gold Coast”. Ghana, Mali, and Burkina Faso produce more gold than South Africa, the continents top gold mining country. Ghana is also set to overtake South Africa as Africa’s top gold producer. Harnessing this potential through mining will further add to the GDP of these countries.

The Gold West Africa conference will discuss these potentials and feature many high-level discussions including transforming many artisanal gold mines to formal mines, how to secure investment in gold mining, and how gold trading influences government policies, especially as regards exportation.

According to Teriba, the Economic & Sustainable solutions towards artisanal gold mining, trading, refining and creating gold products and markets can only be achieved when public and private stakeholders in the gold sector of West Africa jointly create the eco-system for the gold economy to thrive above ground.

The event promises a relevant conference agenda that speaks to each stakeholder and all those interested in the gold value-chain.

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