Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, will on Tuesday officially launch the commencement of the Dukia Gold & Precious Metals Raw Materials Buying Program of Nigeria’s first gold and precious metals refining company.
The official launch will also witness the birth of Dukia–Heritage Bank Gold & Precious Metal Buying Centres, a project in partnership with Heritage Bank Plc for the sourcing and aggregation of Gold and other precious metals.
The launch, which will be declared opened by Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi will attract other Governors, Ministers, Head of Parastatals, Private sector participants, mining stakeholders and local implementation partners.
A statement by the organisers said the theme of the seminar will be “The future of Gold and Precious Metals in Africa” and the virtual launch of the Commencement of Operations of the Dukia Gold & Precious Metal Refining Company Limited, the Precious Metals Raw Materials Buying Program and the Dukia–Heritage Bank Plc buying Centres and the proprietary Dukia Trading Platform.
The launch ceremony will be online via the Zoom – Meet and Chat’ platform by 9am.
Managing Director, Dukia Gold and Precious Metals Refining Co. Ltd, Ms. Bose Owolabi, stated that the lead seminar paper will be delivered by Ibrahim Sagna, Director & Global Head, Advisory and Capital Markets, Afrexim Bank.
Other key speakers include Mr. Ifie Sekibo, Managing Director, Heritage Bank Plc; Mr. Akin Akeredolu-Ale, Managing Director, Lagos Commodities & Futures Exchange (LCFE); Humphrey Oriakhi, Managing Director, PAC Capital and Mr. Femi Williams, Managing Director, New Waves Ecosystems Limited.
According to her: “Nigeria’s enormous deposits of Gold & Precious Metals have largely remained untapped for various reasons which include the scale of capital investment required to activate required infrastructures, inattention to required policy frameworks, the distractions of fossil fuels’ dependencies.
‘The Federal Ministry of Mines & Steel Development has over the years sought to make the sector attractive to Investors with some success and that is why Dukia Gold which is conceptually wholly Nigerian, driven by informed commitment and competence, leveraging on sterling local and global partnering across the spectrum of expertise required to bring it to life sustainably and successfully, going forward.
“Dukia Gold & Precious Metals Refining Company Limited is at the heart of the delivery of the Dukia Gold Project.
“It is primed to fulfil a substantial gap in Infrastructure required to achieve the full value chain of operations, i.e. from Mines and Recyclable Gold to Mint and from Mint to Market and it comprises solutions geared towards facilitating and stimulating necessary developments in and of the Gold & Precious Metals’ subsector of the Solid Minerals sector of the Nigerian economy,” she stated.
She explained further when the company kicks off officially, it will focus on adding value to the gold business in Nigeria and West Africa.
“The Dukia Gold Project is manifestly a game-changing proposition, an articulate catalyst for the development of the Nigerian Mining Industry.
“The buying Programme has commenced and the Buying Centres will be open to the public on August 1, 2020 while phased implementation of the refinery has also commenced with essential equipment on order from pre-qualified world-leading manufacturers with full implementation to be achieved within 24 months,” she added.
Dukia Gold is being financed by a blend of Equity and Loans from Financial Institutions led by Heritage Bank Plc, supported by PAC Capital as Financial Advisers and Fund Arrangers in due course by the Afrexim Bank.