Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has reassured President Bola Tinubu that the National Gold Purchase Programme would enhance the country’s reserves and boost the Naira’s value.
He stated this during the presentation of refined gold bars meeting the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard. Alake detailed plans to sell the gold to the Central Bank of Nigeria to boost foreign reserves.
He explained that this marked the inaugural commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Programme (NGPP), which centralises off-take while being supported by a decentralised network of artisanal and small-scale miners and cooperatives.
“The successful completion of the first commercial transaction clearly demonstrates the National Gold Purchase Programme’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 Programme to enhance fiscal and monetary stability,” he stated.
Alake elaborated that the initial sale resulted in a $5 million increase in Nigeria’s foreign reserves assets, with over 70 kilograms of gold refined to the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard.
Additionally, approximately N6 billion has been injected into the formal sector through successful aggregation of locally mined gold.
President Tinubu lauded the Ministry for achieving a significant breakthrough in diversifying the economy.
“This is another concrete step towards the diversification process under the Renewed Hope Agenda,” Tinubu stated.
During her presentation, Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Fatimah Shinkafi, emphasised the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard’s global recognition as a stringent and trusted standard enabling the global trade in gold and silver bars.
“Only gold and silver bars meeting our Good Delivery standards are acceptable in the settlement of a Loco London contract – where the bullion traded is physically held in London,” she highlighted.
Shinkafi added that through the efforts of the National Gold Purchase Programme under the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Nigeria has joined a select group of countries that boost their gold reserves by purchasing gold in local currency to enhance currency stability and attract foreign investment.
