*First transaction adds over $5m to foreign reserves
CHIGOZIE AMADI
Solid Minerals Development Minister, Dr. Dele Alake at the weekend presented the latest gold bar sourced from artisanal and small gold miners to President Bola Tinubu, stressing that the transaction boosted Nigeria’s foreign reserves by over $5 million.
The minister commended President Bola Tinubu for supporting reforms in the solid minerals sector, assuring that the National Gold Purchase programme will increase the country’s reserve and boost the naira’s value.
Presenting the bars refined by an agency of the ministry, the Solid Minerals Development Fund, to meet the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard, Alake said the refined gold would be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bolster foreign reserves.
Explaining to the president the significance of the event, Alake said it marked the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Programme (NGPP), the centralised offtake 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 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.”
Alake said the first commercial transaction has delivered $5 million increase in Nigerian’s foreign reserves assets, 70+ kilogrammes of gold refined to the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard and successful aggregation of locally mined gold thereby injecting about N6 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 Good 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 said 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 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.
