LCFE presents Eko Gold Coin to SEC

LCFE presents Eko Gold Coin to SEC

Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) has presented the Eko Gold Coin to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the apex regulatory body of the Nigerian capital market, in a bid to drive confidence, structure the gold market and deepen the commodity ecosystem.

The Eko Gold Coin was created out of the need to have an alternative asset class that investors can invest in apart from equities and fixed-income instruments. Each of the coins is 24-carat, weighing 50 grams with 99.99 percent purity.

At the event, where Paddy Rice Spots and Forwards Contracts were also presented, Patrick Ezeagu, Chairman of LCFE, said the commodities ecosystem was being reformed and transformed with the development of innovative products and fungible instruments that are being introduced into the market.

According to him, one of such innovative products developed by the LCFE is the Eko Gold Coin which, he commended SEC for helping to drive.

He recalled that the LCFE was commissioned by the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in July 2022 with the momentous launch and unveiling of the first physical gold asset tradeable on a commodities exchange in Nigeria, “The Eko Gold Coin.”

He appealed to the Director General of the SEC, Lamido Yuguda, to lead a delegation of the Commission, management of the LCFE and its project partners, to present the coin to the National Assembly, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, National Pension Commission, Debt Management Office, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In his remarks, Olugbenga Awe, Group Head, Agric Finance & Solid Minerals with Sterling Alternative Finance (SAF), which is the Non-interest arm of Sterling Bank Plc, noted the bank’s excitement at being part of the Eko Gold Coin innovation and commended the LCFE for championing it.

“It is important to take it to the market to drive awareness and ensure participation,” Awe noted, adding that the visit to the SEC was to present the coins to them as the apex regulator of the capital market.”

Responding, Yuguda said urged commodities exchanges in the country to have investor protection at the centre of their operations in a bid to improve confidence and attract more investments, noting more importantly that “this is what will make the product succeed.”

“The gold itself has great value. Once you put out your money and buy it, you have value. That is incontrovertible but where we need to be careful is the associated investment product, the derivatives,” Yuguda stated.