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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Solid Minerals Development Minister, Dele Alake, has presented President Bola Tinubu with a gold bar sourced from artisanal and small gold miners, refined to meet the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard.
Alake, assured the President that the National Gold Purchase Programme will increase the country’s foreign reserves and boost the naira’s value.
The gold bar, sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria, has bolstered foreign reserves by $5 million and injected about N6 billion into the rural economy.
He said this marks the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Programme, a centralised offtake scheme supported by a decentralised aggregation and production network of artisanal and small-scale miners and cooperatives.
President Tinubu commended the Ministry for achieving a major milestone in the administration’s drive to diversify the economy.
He said, “This is another concrete step towards the diversification process under the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
The Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Fatimah Shinkafi, explained that the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard is the globally recognised standard for gold and silver bars.
