Dele Alake, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, claims that the solid minerals sector and the National Gold Purchase Programme will raise the country’s reserves and boost the naira’s worth.
He made this statement to President Bola Tinubu while presenting him with the latest gold bar sourced from artisanal and small gold miners and polished by a Ministry agency.
Alake stated that the refined gold was purified to meet the London Bullion Market Association’s Good Delivery Standard and would be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to supplement foreign reserves.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the minister stated that the output was the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Programme (NGPP), a centralized offtake plan supported by a decentralized aggregation and production network of artisanal and small-scale miners and cooperatives.
He stated, “The successful completion of the first commercial transaction demonstrates the effectiveness of the National Gold Purchase Programme.”
“It has improved the country’s foreign reserve assets and demonstrated that using the Nigerian naira to buy a liquid asset sold in US dollars, such as gold, is a realistic approach. This transaction has also demonstrated the potential of the National Gold Purchase Programme to improve fiscal and monetary stability.”
Alake stated that the first commercial transaction resulted in a +US$5 million increase in Nigeria’s foreign reserve assets, 70+ kilograms of gold refined to the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard, and the successful aggregation of locally mined gold, injecting approximately 6 billion naira into the rural economy.
President Tinubu received the symbolic bar and congratulated the Ministry on reaching a significant milestone in the administration’s economic diversification efforts.
“This is another concrete step towards the diversification process under the Renewed Hope Agenda,” added the leader.
In her presentation, Fatimah Shinkafi, Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, stated that the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard is the worldwide recognized strict and trusted standard that allows for the global exchange of 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” according to her.