Dukia Gold & Precious Metals Refining Company Limited has completed arrangements for the trading of fully refined  London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)  investment grade gold bullion bars, its derivatives and related products on the floor of the Lagos Commodities & Futures Exchange (LCFE).

This development was disclosed at  a   virtual seminar organised by the
licensed precious metals mining & refining company and bullion merchant in conjunction with LCFE and the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD).

The virtual seminar was  attended by member firms of the Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (Penops), licensed Commodities  Exchange operators, Commodities Broking & trading firms and Assets manager.

Minister for Mines and Steel Development (MMDS), Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite,  delivered the keynote address, while Dr Oyindasola Oni, the Chairman of the National Pension Commission  delivered the goodwill message

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Setting the tone for the event, the Managing Director of Dukia Gold & Precious Metals Refining Company Limited ; Ms. Bose Owolabi, in her welcome address stated that the seminar was one of  the many initiatives along with other partners  conducted ahead of the introduction of the Dukia Gold Exchange Traded Certificate (DGETC).

Managing Director of the Lagos Commodities & Futures Exchange (LCFE), Mr. Akin Akeredolu-Ale,while  welcoming participants, stated that the build up to the virtual seminar on investing in Gold started as far back as 2019.
He stressed that both the LCFE and Dukia Gold had long focused on how Nigerians can invest and trade in responsibly sourced Gold on a structured and regulated platform such as the LCFE.
He further expressed optimism that the Nigerian economy is taking off on a good note particularly  with the development of a commodity trading ecosystem particularly for the solid minerals sector, a move which he affirmed will further diversify the nation’s economy.

Minister of Mines & Steel Development who was Chairman of the event, remarked that Gold investments are said to be a unique, time-tested wealth preservation instrument, thus creating a vehicle for Nigerians to build and preserve wealth over the long term.
He noted that Good Delivery Gold bars and their derivatives are unlike jewellery, ornaments or Raw Gold, are Investment grade Precious Metals (IPM), which are essentially financial assets that are actively traded, similar to financial instruments such as stocks and bonds.

Adegbite said  it is such IPM product that a proudly Nigerian Gold and Precious Metal Refinery, the Dukia Gold and Precious Metals Refining Company Limited , one of the organisers of the webinar was introducing in Nigeria through the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange.
He urged participants and the  public who are discerning and desirous of owning gold assets, to proudly consider and invest in the investment grade products of Dukia Gold, in order to add tremendous value to Nigeria’s precious metal value chain.

In his goodwill message,  Chairman of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Dr Oyindasola Oni, highlighted the wish of the industry to have more investment grade Financial Instruments which will offer more diversifications of available financial assets, necessary to improve the portfolio results of pension funds and asset managers.
He noted that the demand for safe-haven assets by investors following record-high global uncertainty on performance of the stocks and bonds market are well documented.
He went on to point out the requirements of investment grade assets as stipulated within Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the regulations on the Investment of Pension Fund Assets.

These sections, he said, specify the authorized markets, allowable instruments and minimum quality requirements for investment instruments/securities to qualify for pension fund investments.

He said : ” Investment of pension assets in Gold instruments, therefore, depends on compliance with these requirements.  Needless to reiterate that the safety of pension assets remains a fundamental objective of pension fund investments, always.”

He said pension fund operators play a critical role as institutional investors in developing the financial market.
He particularly charged the PFAs to give serious considerations to investing part of the almost N14 trillion in their coffers in investment grade Gold bullion bars, an investment option which Dukia Gold is promoting through its DGETC.

Dr. Oni made this charge against the backdrop that the rapid growth of the pension assets has not seen corresponding increases in investment outlets within our domestic market, the government has been the largest beneficiary of pension funds investment with more than 61  percent  of the accumulated assets devoted to it.

Two key lecture presentations to enlighten participants on the benefits and implications of investing their assets in investment grade Gold were made by Mrs. Morohunke Bammeke, a former Managing Director of PAL Pensions and Mr. David Adeyinka, an investment analyst based in the United Kingdom.

The two speakers made brilliant presentations on the benefits which investments in good delivery gold bars mean for investors in terms of wealth preservation, reliability and assurance of non-depreciation of the value of assets held in LBMA-grade gold bars even during turbulent economic times and many more advantages.

Both speakers supported the view that Gold was traditionally used by investors to hedge against inflation, currency risks and systemic risks that may affect entire financial markets such as the Covid-19 Pandemic and the 2007/2008 financial crisis when gold returned over 31 percent  price appreciation. This is because Gold investments have traditionally exhibited negative correlation with stock markets and tend to do better in times of financial crisis.

The presentation of the DGETC was made by Mr. Seun Osomo of Vetiva Securities, who referred to this unique exchange-traded gold-backed product as a game changer.

He listed the product features and its trading dynamics, in particular, he emphasised the fact that the commodity to be traded on the LCFE will be ethically sourced in accordance with global standards set by the LBMA and OECD.
The trading features include settlement through CSCS.

In conclusion of the seminar, the investing public was urged to look forward to the formal launching of the Dukia Gold Exchange Traded Certificates, a gold-backed product exchange traded spot Gold that will soon be presented and traded on the floor of the Lagos Commodities & Futures Exchange (LCFE).