By Emmanuel Nduka
Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake has revealed that more than 70kg of gold sourced in the country have been refined for exports, improving the country’s foreign reserves by over $5 million.
The minister revealed that the transaction marked the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Program (NGPP), the centralised offtake scheme supported by a decentralised aggregation and production network of artisanal and small-scale miners and cooperatives.
Alake who made the revelation when he presented gold bars to President Bola Tinubu over the weekend, commended President Tinubu for supporting reforms in the solid minerals sector assured that the National Gold Purchase programme will increase the country’s reserve and boost the naira’s value, a statement by Segun Tomori, Special Assistant on Media to the minister said.
Presenting the latest gold bar sourced from artisanal and small gold miners and refined by an agency of the Ministry, the Solid Minerals Development Fund, to meet the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard over the weekend, Alake said the refined gold would be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria to bolster foreign reserves, the statement read.
“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,” Tomori’s statement revealed.
The statement added that Alake explained to President Tinubu the significance of the event, stressing that it marked the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Program (NGPP), 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 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,” the statement read.
The statement added that Tinubu who received and displayed a symbolic bar, 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 statement quoted the president as saying.
