NIGERIA has launched trading of its gold coin, via the Eko Gold Coin, following on the heels of Zimbabwe’s launch of the Mosi-ao-tunya gold coins on July 25, 2022.
The launch of the Eko gold coin by the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE), which is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is aimed at trading gold with the London Bullion Market Association and targeting globally acceptable pricing and quality.
During the launch of the Eko gold coin on July 28, 2022, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said in his speech, “Today, ladies and gentlemen, history is being made with the formal commissioning of this Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-regulated marketplace, dedicated to the electronic trading of Nigerian agricultural commodities, solid minerals, and oil and gas, and to globalizing this trade, through partnerships with other Commodity Exchanges around the world.”
Sanwo-Olu stated that the Gold Spot Contract Series, valued at 100 million pounds sterling, comprised gold-backed financial instruments that will be listed and traded on the LCFE, meaning contracts can be redeemed at any time for specially-made gold coins at specific vaults.
The governor, thereafter, announced the launch of the first tranche of special gold coins, called the ‘Eko Gold Coin’, for which the Spot Contracts can be redeemed.
“The gold coin first tranche – designed as a proof-of-concept – will comprise 58 units of the coin, valued at over N100 million. After this proof-of-concept launch, I am told that future listings of the Eko Gold Coin will take place in tranches of 10 million pounds sterling,” he said.
The occasion was the first time the metal would be offered on exchange in Nigeria as Africa’s largest crude producer encourages its public and private sectors to develop other mineral resources, like gems, zinc, iron ore and lead, to help curb dependence on crude oil, which accounts for over 90 per cent of earnings.
In 2021, Thor Explorations Nigeria’s only large-scale commercial gold mine recorded the first commercial gold output from its Segilola mine, with a target of 85,000 ounces a year.
The President & Chief Executive Officer, Thor Explorations, Segun Lawson, disclosed that in the second quarter of 2022, Segilola had produced over 45,000 ounces of gold.
“We remain very pleased with the company’s operational performance, which continues to improve in all areas month on month. Q2 2022 gold production is up 11% on Q1 2022, returning a total of 45,128 oz of gold produced in the first half of the year, ” Lawson said.
