INTERVIEW: Can Tokenized Gold Become Africa’s Answer to Currency Volatility?

In this exclusive interview with Impact Newswire, Mamadou Kwidjim Toure, founder and CEO of  Dubai-based Ubuntu Tribe discusses why the current global rush into gold matters more for Africa than developed economies, how tokenized commodities could reshape wealth access across the continent, and why he believes banks and regulators risk falling behind as digital asset rails evolve beyond traditional financial infrastructure.

As central banks race to rebuild monetary buffers in an increasingly fragmented global economy, gold is once again becoming a strategic asset rather than a relic of the past. According to the World Gold Council, central banks purchased a record 1,082 tonnes of gold in 2022 and followed that with another 1,037 tonnes in 2023, before adding 863 tonnes in 2024, extending one of the most aggressive sovereign gold accumulation cycles in decades. 

The buyers are no longer limited to traditional reserve powers. Emerging market central banks, particularly across Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Africa, are increasingly turning to bullion as a geopolitical hedge against currency volatility, sanctions exposure, inflation, and dependence on the U.S. dollar system.

For Africa, the implications are unusually sharp. Many economies across the continent continue to grapple with weakening local currencies, high inflation, dollar shortages, and limited access to reliable savings instruments for ordinary citizens. While central banks accumulate gold as a reserve asset, retail investors in many African markets remain largely excluded from formal gold ownership. 

Access is often fragmented, informal, or prohibitively expensive, despite Africa being one of the world’s largest gold-producing regions. In countries where informal gold trading and physical gold ownership already exist outside the banking system, a widening gap is emerging between institutional access to safe-haven assets and the financial tools available to households.

That gap is increasingly drawing attention to tokenized commodities and blockchain-based financial infrastructure. Advocates argue that tokenized gold, where physical bullion is digitally represented on blockchain networks, could lower entry barriers for retail investors, improve liquidity, and create new pathways between informal wealth and regulated financial markets. The idea is gaining traction as regulators across Africa simultaneously explore digital asset frameworks, stablecoin oversight, and tokenized financial instruments as part of broader financial modernization efforts.

It is within this shifting landscape that Tech Editor Faustine Ngila spoke to Mamadou Kwidjim Toure, founder and CEO of  Ubuntu Tribe, which is developing tokenized gold systems tailored for African markets, where large segments of the population remain outside formal banking networks but are already familiar with gold as a store of value. 

Here, is the full interview excerpt: 

1. Central banks bought over 2,400 tonnes of gold in three years, according to the World Gold Council. Why does this matter more for African economies?

For developed markets, gold is often part of portfolio management. For African economies, it is much more personal. Currency volatility here is not something people read about in a report. It affects school fees, food prices, business planning, savings, and the ability of a family to think beyond the next month.

When central banks keep buying gold, they are sending a very clear message. In times of uncertainty, gold remains one of the assets the world still trusts. The question for Africa is simple. If central banks can protect part of their reserves with gold, why should ordinary Africans not have access to the same protection for their savings?

That is the gap we need to close.

2. In markets such as Nigeria and Kenya, currency depreciation has eroded savings. Why are retail investors still locked out of gold exposure?

Gold has always been trusted, but access has always been difficult. To buy gold traditionally, you need capital, trusted dealers, storage, insurance, and liquidity. Most people are not excluded because they do not understand gold. They are excluded because the system was never built for them.

Mobile money changed how Africans move money. But it did not give them simple access to strong assets. A person can send money instantly, but converting a small amount into gold exposure is still far too difficult.

That is the problem. Gold should not only be available to people who already have wealth. It should also be available to people who are trying to protect and build it.

3. Africa produces over 1,000 tonnes of gold annually, yet much of it is traded informally. What prevents this wealth from entering formal financial systems?

Africa does not lack gold. It lacks the formal infrastructure to keep more of that value inside the system. Many small-scale miners operate without access to formal finance, traceability tools, certification, or reliable buyers. So they sell to whoever can pay quickly, often at a discount.

On the other side, institutional buyers need due diligence, origin verification, compliance, and custody standards. The distance between those two worlds is where informality grows.

The opportunity is not just to tokenize gold. The real opportunity is to formalize the value chain before tokenization happens. That means better sourcing, better verification, better financing, and better routes to market for African producers.

4. Tokenized real-world assets are projected to become a major market by 2030. What makes tokenized gold a strong entry point for Africa?

Gold is the most natural real-world asset for Africa to tokenize. Africa produces it. Africans understand it. And in moments of currency pressure, people already trust it. Other tokenized assets can be useful, but many depend on complex legal structures or foreign financial systems. Gold is different. It has universal recognition.

Tokenization allows gold ownership to be broken into much smaller units. That matters because most people cannot buy a gold bar, but they may be able to save a small amount in gold through a mobile wallet. For me, tokenized gold is not about making gold digital for the sake of technology. It is about making a trusted asset accessible to people who have historically been excluded from it.

5. Regulators across Africa remain cautious on digital assets. What are they getting right, and where are they slowing innovation?

Regulators are right to be cautious. The digital asset industry has had too many failures, too many promises, and too many projects that did not protect users properly. So consumer protection, custody, AML, and transparency are not optional. They are necessary. Where the conversation needs to evolve is in how we distinguish between different types of digital assets.

An unbacked speculative token is not the same thing as a token backed by audited and insured physical gold. The risk is not the same. The purpose is not the same. The regulatory treatment should not be exactly the same either. Africa needs strong regulation, but it also needs regulation that recognizes serious infrastructure when it sees it. That is how we protect people without blocking innovation.

6. Traditional banks still dominate savings and payments across Africa. What are they missing about blockchain-based asset ownership and settlement?

Banks understand trust. They understand compliance. They understand custody. So I do not think the future is about replacing banks. But blockchain changes something fundamental. It changes how ownership is recorded, verified, and transferred.

In the traditional system, many people depend on layers of intermediaries to hold or move value. Blockchain allows for a more direct and transparent model, if it is properly regulated and properly designed.

The opportunity for banks is not to add crypto as a side product. The opportunity is to use blockchain rails to reduce friction, improve transparency, and give more people access to quality assets. For Africa, that matters because exclusion is still one of the biggest problems in finance.

7. Can tokenized commodities connect small-scale gold holders to institutional capital, or does this risk recreating old inequalities?

It can do both. It depends on how the system is built. If we take the same gold, the same intermediaries, the same pricing imbalance, and simply add a token on top, then nothing has changed. The technology would only make the old inequality look modern. For tokenization to matter, the supply chain has to improve first.

We need origin verification. We need fairer financing for producers. We need pricing structures that allow more value to stay with the people and communities producing the gold. A token does not automatically create fairness. It reflects the system behind it. So the real work is not only technical. It is structural.

8. With your experience structuring major transactions across infrastructure and mining, what are the biggest execution risks in building tokenized gold systems at scale in Africa?

The first risk is trust. If you say a token is backed by gold, people need to know where the gold is, who holds it, whether it is insured, whether it is audited, and whether the claim is enforceable. Without that, it is just another promise.

The second risk is regulation. Africa is not one market. Each country has its own rules, regulators, and pace of adoption. So you cannot build this by ignoring regulation. You have to work with regulators, through pilots, sandboxes, and proper licensing.

The third risk is access. A gold-backed product only matters if people can actually use it. That means mobile-first design, local payment rails, education, and simple onboarding. At Ubuntu Tribe, our view is very clear. Tokenized gold only works when trust, compliance and access come together. If one of those layers is missing, the product will not scale sustainably.

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