By Ola Kay
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Prince Dele Alake, on Sunday disclosed that Nigeria has recorded a commercial transaction of raw gold sales at the London Bullion Market Association.
Alake stated that stated that the transaction resulted in a $5m increase in Nigeria’s foreign reserves, 70 plus kilograms of gold refined to the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard and successful aggregation of locally mined gold, which translated to the injection of about N6bn into the rural economy.
An elated Minister of Solid Minerals Development broke the good news as he presented the latest gold bar sourced from artisanal and small gold miners, refined by the Solid Minerals Development Fund to President Bola Tinubu during the weekend.
In a statement signed by the Special Assistant to the minister on Media, Segun Tomori, Alake said that the refined gold would in turn be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria to strengthen the nation’s foreign reserves.
Alake applauded President Tinubu for giving necessary assistance to reforms in the solid minerals sector. He noted that, based on the current success, the National Gold Purchase programme will increase the country’s reserve and enhance the value of the nation’s currency.
Explaining the significance of the event to the President Tinubu, Alake said it marked the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Program, the centralised offtake scheme supported by a decentralised aggregation and production network of artisanal and small-scale miners and cooperatives.
“The successful completion of the first commercial transaction 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,” explained the minister.
After being handed the symbolic bar, Tinubu thanked the Ministry for achieving a major milestone in the administration’s efforts to diversify the nation’s economy.
In his response, President Tinubu stated that, “This is another concrete step towards the diversification process under the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Fatimah Shinkafi revealed that 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, adding that
only gold and silver bars that have met “Good Delivery standards are acceptable in the settlement of a Loco London contract – where the bullion traded is physically held in London.”
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