Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria’s minister of solid minerals development, Dele Alake, has unveiled a ground-breaking move to stabilise the country’s economy with the National Gold Purchase Programme (NGPP). It is a strategic initiative aimed at leveraging the country’s gold reserves to strengthen the Naira and boost foreign reserves.
The announcement, made during the Nigeria Gold Day Celebration at the 10th edition of the Nigeria Mining Week in Abuja on Wednesday, marks a significant shift in the country’s economic policy. It positions the mining sector as a cornerstone of national wealth creation.
The NGPP builds on the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Initiative (PAGMI), launched in 2024, which has already demonstrated success by injecting over $5 million into Nigeria’s foreign reserves through the purchase and refinement of more than 70 kilograms of gold to London Bullion Market standards.
Speaking at the event themed “Nigeria Mining: From Progress to Global Relevance,” Alake emphasised that gold, as a universally accepted store of value, offers Nigeria a unique opportunity to reduce its reliance on foreign currencies and address the naira’s volatility.
Under the NGPP, the government will purchase gold mined by artisanal and small-scale miners through licensed buying centres and aggregators, paying a portion in naira while retaining the refined gold as a foreign currency asset in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) vaults.
Alake highlighted that this mechanism could increase the value of Nigeria’s foreign reserves, currently standing at 21.37 tonnes of gold as of the first quarter of 2024, without the immediate need for dollar transactions. “There is no faster way to shore up our foreign reserves than this programme,” he declared, noting that the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) has allocated increased resources for 2025 to support the initiative.
The programme is expected to inject approximately 6 billion Naira into rural economies, fostering job creation and economic empowerment while curbing illegal gold exports, a persistent challenge in Nigeria’s mining sector.
Alake’s announcement corresponds with the government’s broader reform agenda, which places priority on beneficiation and value addition over raw material exports, a shift illustrated by recent improvements in geological mapping, mining safety, and licensing transparency.
Analysts have hailed the plan as a step towards currency stability, drawing parallels with Ghana’s successful gold-backed economic strategy. However, sceptics point to unregulated exports by individuals as signs of potential elite enrichment as the programme scales.
Analysts view the NGPP as a bold experiment, with its success hinging on effective regulation and transparency to prevent corruption. If implemented effectively, they say, it could transform Nigeria’s economic landscape, reducing dependence on oil and positioning the country as a global mining powerhouse.
