By Martha Agas
The Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) says Nigeria gold reserves has risen to N3.5 billion dollars.
Executive Secretary of the fund, Hajiya Fatima Shinkafi, said this in a statement by SMDF`s Head, Corporate Communications, Mrs Idowu Jokpeyibo on Thursday in Abuja.
Shinkafi spoke while announcing the delivery of additional responsibly sourced gold, refined to London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Good Delivery standards, to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
She said that the gold was sourced locally and aggregated by the SMDF through the National Gold Purchase Programme (NGPP) .
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, in 2024 said that Five Million dollars had been added to Nigeria’s foreign reserves through gold transaction.
Alake said that the gold bar was refined by the SMDF, to meet the standards of the LBMA Good Delivery Standard.
The Executive Secretary, at a recent workshop on “Strategies to Maximise the Economic Benefits of Minerals in Nigeria’’ said that the delivery validates the strength of the SMDF’s formalisation framework.
Shinkafi added that it includes supply-chain due diligence processes under the NGPP.
NAN recalls that the SMDF in February began its 2026 training for the staff of the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) to drive reforms in the gold mining sector.
The initiative was conceived to provide artisanal miners access to markets through the NGPP, promote safer and more efficient mining and ensure responsible sourcing.
The SMDF`s boss said that the programme has continued to demonstrate Nigeria’s capacity to responsibly harness its mineral resources for national economic benefit.
“Nigeria launched this gold purchase initiative ahead of the Ghana Gold Bullion and other countries, positioning the nation as a regional leader in responsible gold reserve management,” she said.
The programme, she said, engages artisans and small-scale miners within a robust responsible-sourcing framework aligned with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Due Diligence Guidelines and the World Gold Council’s London Principles.
NAN reports that the Governor of CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, said that the monetary-grade gold was acquired using Naira, with pricing linked to the LBMA benchmarks.
Cardoso said that the structure preserves Nigeria’s foreign exchange while strengthening the country’s gold reserves. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Gabriel Yough
