"Nigeria's Gold Bars Are Ready To Be Sold To CBN To Strengthen Naira" - Dele Alake (Economy)
For decades since 1960's Independence, Nigeria has been famed for being solely dependent on crude oil for it's sustenance. But as the world is gradually becoming less reliant on crude oil, it's crucial for the country to harness it's powerful but untapped rich deposits of solid minerals.
This is why the recent revelation by Dr. Dele Alake, Nigeria's minister of Solid minerals development, is heartwarming. Today, Dr. Alake presented symbolic gold bars to President Bola Tinubu in a symbolic ceremony at the Aso Rock, Abuja.
“The bars were sourced from artisanal and small gold miners and refined by an agency of our Ministry, the Solid Minerals Development Fund. They have met the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard and will soon be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria to strengthen our foreign reserves,," Alake said.Going further, the minister said, "This marks the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Program (NGPP), which is a centralised offtake scheme supported by a decentralised aggregation and production network of artisanal and small-scale miners and cooperatives."
In a moment of profound paradigm shift from Nigeria's mono-economuc tendencies, Alake said that this first commercial transaction has resulted in a substantial increase of over US$5 million in Nigeria's foreign reserves assets, the refinement of over 70 kilograms of gold to the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard, and the successful aggregation of locally mined gold. This has led to injection of around N6 billion into the rural economy”.
Indeed, this a historical moment when a country's National Gold Purchase programme has increase the country's reserves and boost naira's value, leading to massive billions of naira in earnings for Nigeria.
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