By Peter Egwuatu

In a bid to boost Nigeria’s N344 trillion gold industry and fast-track 10 per cent contribution of the mining sector to GDP, Dukia Gold, yesterday got approval from the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) to trade its exchange traded notes on its platform.

This is even as the Gold & Precious Metals Refining Company, in collaboration with Heritage Bank Plc, is seeking to grow the nation’s potential reserves of 200 million ounces of gold.

As a prelude to the listing, Dukia Gold explained that the instruments which would be in form of Exchange Traded Notes (ETN), Commercial Papers (CP) and other gold-backed securities would enable the company deepen the commodities market in Nigeria, increase capacity, generate foreign exchange for the government to diversify external reserve and create massive employment across the  metal production value chain.

Speaking to newsmen at the pre-listing media interactive session in Lagos ,the Chairman, Dukia Gold, Tunde Fagbemi, commended the Federal Government, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the LCFE for approving the laudable initiative and asset class into the Nigerian investment portfolio.

He noted that the crude oil and cocoa market would have had a better outing if there were strategies put in place to regulate it right from inception and added that the FG, LCFE together with other regulators are thinking of ways to develop the Nigerian economy.

According to him, the listing would enhance a regulated market that would see precious metals and other commodities take center stage and ensure irreversible economic growth and development in alliance with a modernized Exchange for commodities trading in Nigeria.

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“Dukia Gold will present to investors alternate asset classes and there is a need to look for investors to tap into other asset classes which are definitely gold and this will help the country hedge against inflation and give fungibility. We know we are start-ups but we have assembled a team of professionals that will add value and since we are seeking to grow the mining industry’s contribution to 10 per cent GDP by 2026, there is a clear opportunity for us to expand and increase demand in the industry depending on market’s forces.

“We will work with stakeholders across states and government parastatals, the CBN, private sector, small scale mining industries to ensure that if a metal is precious enough, then it will have a good home for good investment”, Fagbemi said.

Corroborating him, the Chief Technical Officer, Dukia Gold, Akin Akintola, said the company is on a relentless journey to put the nation on the map and at par with world major gold and precious metals refining and producing nations.

He noted that the firm has the capability, technicalities and necessary accreditation to operate in the gold value chain and is about to deliver an encompassing structured sub sector more or less out of nothing in the Nigerian economy while adding that with its sound corporate governance structure, the company will advance export development in Nigeria and help to build the nation’s foreign exchange (FOREX).

Speaking as well,  Divisional Head,  Strategy and Business Solutions, Heritage Bank and only licenced gold settlement bank in Nigeria, Mr Olusegun Akanji, said: “ The bank had created a buying centre for verification of quality and quantity of gold and reference price to ensure price discovery in line with the global standard. As a bank we provide knowledge, value for value at every point.Every transaction is auditable to protect investors.”

Earlier in his welcome address, the Managing Director, LCFE, Akinsola Akeredolu-Ale, stated that the benefits of tapping into the gold industry cannot be over emphasized and stressed that there is a need to create regulation, funding and introduce pertinent structures.

Akeredolu-Ale, who commended SEC for issuing the Exchange a licence to trade gold said Commodities Exchanges played strategic roles introducing structures into the ecosystem which was in urgent need for regulation, funding and data collation.

“Nigeria’s International Trade in Solid Minerals and commodities is behind par and the absence of a listed gold investible instrument on a commodities exchange limits export potential for the exploration of solid minerals in Nigeria, particularly Gold. The need to harness the potential growth in the Nigerian Solid Mineral/ Gold sector and commodity trades justifies the timely establishment of a gold trading platform and the objectives of the promoters of Dukia Gold” Akeredolu-Ale added.

According to him, LCFE is ready to support all the stakeholders in the Gold Sector in the areas of market creation, dissemination  of market information, price risk management, reduction of counter party risk for trades, price  discovery and transparency,  standardization, facilitation of commodity finance and innovative  applications for an exchange mechanism.