Milsat Technologies Limited has deployed its ASM Geoportal to identify, profile and connect artisanal and small-scale miners to financial and support services under the UNDP MineTech Timbuktoo Hub.
The initiative is designed to improve the visibility of miners who often operate outside formal systems, limiting their access to credit, insurance, healthcare, safety equipment, and other services that can improve their productivity and livelihoods.
Milsat was selected into the UNDP MineTech Timbuktoo Hub in 2025 and received $25,000 in funding to implement the initiative. Since then, the company has carried out enumeration activities in mining communities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, and at the Shiru Mining Cooperative in Vihiga County, Kenya, where the latest phase of field mapping was completed in last month.
At the centre of the initiative is Milsat’s ASM Geoportal, a location-intelligence platform designed to create structured and verifiable profiles of artisanal miners and their operations. Trained data agents collect KYC information, geotag mining locations and document miners’ activities, minerals, equipment needs and operating conditions.
The information is consolidated on the Geoportal and used to create a clearer picture of who the miners are, where they operate and the support they require. Verified miners can then be connected to financial institutions, insurance providers, healthcare services, Personal Protective Equipment suppliers, and other relevant service providers.
The broader objective is to move beyond simply mapping mining activity and create a practical pathway from identification and verification to greater participation in the formal mining economy. Better visibility can help reduce some of the information gaps that make it difficult for institutions to assess and serve artisanal miners.
Speaking on the initiative, Taslim Salaudeen, Chief Executive Officer of Milsat Technologies, said: ‘Artisanal miners contribute significant value to the mining economy, but many remain invisible to the formal systems that can support their growth. Our approach starts with creating that visibility. When institutions can understand who the miners are, where they operate, and what they need, it becomes easier to extend credit, insurance, equipment and other services to them. The goal is to turn field data into a practical pathway toward formalisation.’
Beyond enumeration, Milsat is working to connect miners on the platform with service providers that can respond to needs identified during the data collection process. These include access to credit and micro-insurance, healthcare, and Personal Protective Equipment.
Over the next four years, the company aims to profile one million artisanal miners and connect at least 200,000 of them to relevant services across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Liberia.
The ASM Geoportal forms part of Milsat’s broader location-intelligence and field-data infrastructure, combining enumeration, geospatial technology and structured data to improve visibility across underserved sectors. Through the initiative, Milsat aims to demonstrate how reliable data can support safer mining, financial inclusion and the gradual formalisation of artisanal mining activity across Africa.