A Nigerian gold refinery company, Kian Smith Trade and Co LTD. has unveiled a digital platform for gold and silver buying, called Sanu.
The innovation, in Nigeria’s mining and trade industry, is set to create an organised and accessible retail market that enables gold buyers in Africa to purchase digital representations of physical gold and silver, Sanu-GLD and Sanu-SLV respectively.
Speaking on the feat of gold buying in Nigeria and Africa, the Executive Vice chairman, Kian Smith Trade and Co LTD, Nere Emiko, said, “We are very excited to launch this, there is no product like this anywhere in the world. This gives Nigerians and Africans the opportunity to access London Bullion Market Association gold that they usually don’t have access to without FX. Now, LBMA gold can be accessed in Nigeria with the naira.”
The statement said the digital platform allows Nigerians to buy and own gold in small retail quantities as buyers could own a fraction of gold or silver with as low as N100 which could be collected from selected Union bank branches and other locations in Dubai and London.
It said the gold buying app would immensely contribute to building Nigeria’s gold value chain and position the country in the heart of the international gold market by establishing the gold buying capacity of Nigerians.
“We have always known that part of the key to strengthening the value-chain and developing investments in gold is bringing out the Nigerian gold retail markets, getting Nigerians to buy gold, and getting gold to the people,” Emiko said.
She noted that FX restrictions from the present tight monetary policy and adhering to responsible sourcing compliance complicate the gold market and made it difficult to quantify the potential of Nigeria to become a reputable gold market.
“Once Nigeria begins to establish data of gold consumption in households whether gold as bars, coins or jewellery, then it would become apparent to the World Gold Council, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics and other trade data analysts the buying power of gold in Nigeria,” she said.