- Says gold injects N6bn into rural economy
- Alake commends Tinubu for supporting solid minerals reforms
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development Minister, Dr Dele Alake, has presented Gold bars to President Bola Tinubu sourced from artisanal and small gold miners and refined by an agency of the Ministry, the Solid Minerals Development Fund, and as evidence of impact of recent reforms in the solid minerals sector.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, which also made it known that Alake assured the President that the National Gold Purchase programme will increase the country’s reserve and boost the Naira’s value.
According to the statement, the Gold bars met the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard, which the Minister said the refined gold would be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to bolster foreign reserves.
Meanwhile, the statement pointed that while explaining to President Tinubu 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 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.”
He also disclosed that 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.
Receiving and displaying a symbolic bar, President 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, through the efforts of the National Gold Purchase Program 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