The Federal Government has revamped the National Gold Purchase programme, in a bid to improve the country’s reserves and boost the value of the Naira.
This policy came to the fore when the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, presented the latest gold bar sourced from artisanal and small gold miners and refined by an agency of the Ministry to the President, Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
Alake lauded the President for supporting reforms in the solid minerals sector, assuring that the sector will in no distant time boost the nation’s reserves.
He said the Solid Minerals Development Fund meets the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard.
Alake also revealed that the refined gold would be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria to bolster foreign reserves.
Explaining the significance of the event, Alake said it marked the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Program (NGPP), the centralised off-take scheme supported by a decentralised aggregation and production network of artisanal and small-scale miners and cooperatives.
He said, “The successful completion of the first commercial transaction clearly demonstrates the National Gold Purchase Program’s effectiveness. It has increased the nation’s foreign reserves assets and shown that using the Nigerian Naira to purchase a liquid asset traded in United States Dollars, such as gold, is a viable strategy.
“This transaction has also underscored the potential of the National Gold Purchase Program to enhance fiscal and monetary stability.”
Alake said the first commercial transaction has delivered +US$5 million increase in Nigerian’s foreign reserves assets, 70+ kilograms of gold refined to the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard and successful aggregation of locally mined gold thereby injecting about NGN6 billion into the rural economy.
Receiving and displaying a symbolic bar, Tinubu commended the Ministry for achieving a major milestone in the administration’s drive to diversify the economy.
“This is another concrete step towards the diversification process under the Renewed Hope Agenda” the President said.
In her presentation, the Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Fatimah Shinkafi, said the London Bullion Market Gold Delivery Standard is the globally recognised stringent and trusted standard that enables the global trade in gold and silver bars.
“Only gold and silver bars that meet our Good Delivery standards are acceptable in the settlement of a Loco London contract – where the bullion traded is physically held in London,” she said.
Shinkafi added that, through the efforts of the National Gold Purchase Program under the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Nigeria has joined a select group of countries bolstering their gold reserves by purchasing gold in local currency to foster economic confidence, enhance currency stability, and create a more attractive environment for foreign investment.