Good news on mining

What you need to know:

  • According to him, the Exchequer has received Sh845 million since last year. It is a huge improvement, considering that in the 2011/12 financial year, for instance, only Sh21 million was raised.
  • This is why efforts to streamline mining should be supported to not only enhance the industry’s growth, but also to ensure that the business is cleaned up.

Reforms implemented in the mining industry in the past one year appear to be working. And Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala is saying as much, with the release of statistics indicating that royalties from minerals have increased.

According to him, the Exchequer has received Sh845 million since last year. It is a huge improvement, considering that in the 2011/12 financial year, for instance, only Sh21 million was raised.

There are some decent mining companies that have always paid the government its due. However, the industry has also been in the grip of smugglers and speculators who are only out to enrich themselves at the country’s expense.

This is why efforts to streamline mining should be supported to not only enhance the industry’s growth, but also to ensure that the business is cleaned up.

So far, the mining ministry is upbeat about the success and is even more ambitious, projecting that its target of Sh1.2 billion could be surpassed by the close of the financial year on June 30.

It is evident that with stricter monitoring and incentives to genuine investors, a lot more can achieved. There is a need to also step up exploration countrywide to net more resources and boost the economy.