Dangote Cement Plc and Dangote Industries Limited are the highest revenue contributors to the country’s Solid Minerals sector in 2019, according to Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The Spokesman for Dangote Group, Mr Francis Awowole-Browne, said in a statement that NEITI revealed in its 2019 Audit Report that the two companies contributed about N778.28 million, representing 31 per cent of the N79.96 billion generated in 2019.
The NEITI’s 2019 Audit Report was signed by Mr Orji Ogbonaya Orji, its Executive Secretary.
Specifically, Dangote Cement Plc’s revenue contribution stood at N635.52 million, while Dangote Industries Limited’s revenue was at N142.76 million, representing 25.40 per cent and 5.71 per cent of the total revenue.
The report named the top five companies that contributed significantly to revenue from the solid mineral sector to include Dangote Cement Plc, Dangote Industries Limited, Lafarge PLc, Julius Berger, and Reynolds Construction.
According to the report, out of 702 companies that paid royalties to the government in 2019, only 74 companies met the materiality threshold of three million Naira.
“These 74 companies accounted for 87.63 per cent of total royalties of N2.50 billion paid in 2019, with the top 5 companies (Dangote Cement PLC; Lafarge PLC; Dangote Industries; Julius Berger; and Reynolds Construction) paying more than 50 per cent of total royalties.
“On minerals exported, the report showed that the solid minerals sector accounted for N124.23 billion of the total government exports of N24.275 trillion for 2019, representing 0.51 per cent of total export for the year.
“A sectorial review of revenue distribution of taxes and royalties by the 74 companies shows that manufacturing and construction companies contributed 68.60 per cent and 29.67 per cent, respectively, in royalty and taxes.
“Quarry, mining companies and buying centres contributed only 1.73 per cent,” the report read.
Apart from the Presidential initiatives on gold, salt and fertilizers, the NEITI report also identified on-going projects in the sector.
They include: Gold Mining Development; Mapping of ASM and Buying Centres; and Procurement of Airborne Geophysical Survey; and Integrated Automated and Interactive Solid Mineral Portal (IAISMP).
Others are: Development of geoscience data bank for mineral exploration; Development of jewelry and gemstone industry; Automation of royalty payment and documentation across the country. (NAN)