Formalise and Make Safer Nigeria's 500,000 Artisanal Miners

Nigeria has an estimated 500,000 artisanal and small-scale miners working gold, coltan, lead, and quarry stone across dozens of states. They operate without legal status, safety equipment, or access to banking and insurance. In Zamfara state, lead-ore processing by artisanal miners has caused one of the world's largest recorded outbreaks of childhood lead poisoning. Formalisation efforts have historically been heavy-handed and driven miners further underground. Your challenge is to design a formalisation pathway for artisanal miners in one Nigerian state that increases their safety, gives them legal status, connects them to financing and insurance, and does not disrupt their ability to earn a living during the transition. The model must be designed with miner input, not against it. Submit a policy and programme design document (max 12 pages) including: the legal registration pathway, safety standards achievable with ₦50,000 per miner in equipment, health monitoring model, financing and insurance product, community-based governance of the formalisation process, and a plan to formalise 10,000 miners in one state within 24 months. Judging criteria: 40% miner-centred design and livelihood protection, 30% safety improvement model, 20% legal and financial inclusion design, 10% formalisation plan.