General
From High Finance to Financial Inclusion: Mamadou Kwidjim Toure’s Ubuntu Tribe
Mamadou Kwidjim Toure structured deals worth over $25 billion during two decades at KPMG, BNP Paribas, and IBM. Then he left it behind to sell gold tokens for 10 cents each.
His company, Ubuntu Tribe, launched its GIFT Gold token in Singapore on October 1. Each token represents one milligram of gold — like splitting a gold bar into 31,000 digital shares — stored in vaults across Switzerland, Germany, Dubai, and Singapore. The product targets people who can’t meet the minimum investments traditional gold dealers require.
The Career That Revealed the Gap
Toure’s work took him across 26 African markets over 20 years. He watched traditional finance serve corporations and governments while ignoring the populations that needed it most. “Traditional gold investment requires thousands of dollars. That excludes 360 million unbanked adults in Sub-Saharan Africa who need protection from currency devaluation most,” Toure said.
That experience showed him a problem banks wouldn’t solve: millions of people locked out of wealth preservation tools while inflation eroded their savings. Ubuntu Tribe emerged from that gap.
How Swiss Vaults Serve the Unbanked
The model addresses a straightforward problem. Gold has climbed roughly 1,000% since 2000, outpacing most emerging market currencies. But traditional dealers require minimum investments that exclude most Africans from accessing that protection.
Ubuntu Tribe uses blockchain to track fractional ownership of physical gold reserves. “When someone buys our GIFT Gold tokens, they’re not betting on algorithms or market sentiment. They’re buying actual gold stored in Swiss vaults, verified by independent auditors,” Toure explained.
The company maintains a Track-n-Trace system that lets anyone with internet access verify reserves in real time. Toure said Ubuntu Tribe selected partners based on traditional finance credentials. “Everything gets published publicly. We chose partners based on their reputation in traditional finance, not crypto,” he said.
Token holders can request physical gold delivery, though the company expects most to keep their holdings digital. The focus on transparency stems from a string of crypto blowups — projects that claimed backing by real assets but folded once auditors found the vaults empty.
Navigating Fragmented Regulation
Ubuntu Tribe falls under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework—detailed disclosures, reserve requirements, regular audits. But that regulatory footing stops at Europe’s borders. In Nigeria and Kenya, where Ubuntu Tribe sees its main opportunities, the rules look entirely different.
Toure points to this patchwork as a drag on growth. “Unified standards would let us scale faster, reduce costs, and pass those savings to users.”
The Crowded Race to Tokenize Assets
Ubuntu Tribe isn’t the first to tokenize gold. Established players already offer regulated products in most of major markets. Financial institutions and crypto startups both race to digitize commodities, real estate, and other physical assets.
The company’s success in Africa will depend on whether it can secure regulatory approvals in key markets and convince users to trust that tokens genuinely represent gold reserves. The continent has adopted digital finance before — mobile money moved over $1 trillion in 2024, more than Kenya’s entire GDP, by filling gaps banks left open.
Toure declined to speculate on expansion timelines beyond stating a principle. “Any future expansion would need to serve the same fundamental purpose: protecting purchasing power for people who lack access to traditional wealth preservation tools,” he said.
Credentials Meet Mission
The model combines regulatory compliance, verifiable reserves, and fractional ownership to tackle barriers that have kept gold investment out of reach. Currency devaluation continues to erode savings in markets where formal financial services remain scarce.
Toure’s two decades structuring deals across African markets and Ubuntu Tribe’s early regulatory compliance provide advantages that many tokenization projects lack. Whether those credentials can bridge the gap between high finance and financial inclusion will depend on execution in markets that need the solution most.
The man who once moved billions now focuses on 10-cent tokens. The scale changed. The mission — protecting purchasing power for those traditional finance excluded — stayed the same.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Ministry of Finance has directed all shipping companies and airlines operating in Nigeria to submit their manifests through the Single Window Project (SWP) as part of efforts to strengthen cargo tracking and transparency.
The submission of shipping manifests before the change of policy was handled exclusively by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for onward cargo processing and port clearance.
However, following a memo from late last year signed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, all shipping firms and airlines were directed to integrate with the National Single Window platform to ensure seamless Manifests submission.
“I would like to bring to your attention that His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inaugurated the National Single Window (NSW) Project on the 16th of April 2024.
The NSW Project aims to streamline and automate import and export processes at Nigeria’s entry & exit ports, with the dual goals of enhancing trade facilitation and increasing government revenue.
“By integrating the operations of multiple government agencies involved in trade processes on one platform, the NSW platform will ensure faster clearance of goods and services, improve operational efficiencies at the imports and significantly reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks.
“Key components of the Single Window as defined by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and World Customs Organisation (WCO) include: (a) a single-entry point i.e. traders, shipping lines, airlines and other stakeholders should submit all required import and export documentation through a single-entry point on a centralized digital platform, and (b) single submission i.e. all documentation should only be submitted once and data only entered once.
“As a result, the NSW Platform will be the single-entry point of submission for all Sea and Air Manifests. Therefore, all shipping lines and airlines are therefore directed to integrate with the NSW Platform to ensure seamless Manifests submission,” parts of the memo read.
The Comptroller-General of the NCS, the chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS), the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) were copied in the memo.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The petition written against the immediate past chief executive of the Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed, which was withdrawn from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has now been taken to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The letter was written by the chairman of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Mr Aliko Dangote. It contained allegations of allegations of abuse of office and corrupt enrichment against Mr Ahmed.
The petition led to the resignation of the former NMDPRA chief from office last month.
It was gathered that Mr Dangote, through his legal representative, filed a formal corruption petition against him at the headquarters of the EFCC, with specific plea of prosecuting Mr Ahmed if found culpable.
The businessman said the withdrawal of the petition from the ICPC was a strategic move aimed at accelerating the prosecution process.
In the petition signed by his lead counsel Mr O.J. Onoja (SAN), Mr Dangote noted that, “We make bold to state that the commission is strategically positioned along with sister agencies to prosecute financial crimes and corruption related offences, and upon establishing a prima facie case, the courts do not hesitate to punish offenders. See Lawan v. F.R.N (2024) 12 NWLR (Pt. 1953) 501 and Shema v. F.R.N. (2018) 9 NWLR (Pt.1624)337.”
He further urged the anti-money laundering agency, under the leadership of Mr Olanipekun Olukoyede, “…to investigate the complaint of Abuse of Office and Corruption against Engr. Farouk Ahmed and to accordingly prosecute him if found wanting.”
“The commission’s firm resolve in handling this matter with dispatch is not only imperative and expedient but will also serve as a deterrent to other public officers out there with such corrupt proneness and tendencies,” he added.
Recall that on December 14, 2025, Mr Dangote raised concerns about Mr. Ahmed’s financial dealings, alleging that the former regulator is living far beyond his legitimate means.
According to him, four of Mr Ahmed’s children attended elite secondary schools in Switzerland, incurring costs running into several millions of dollars—an expenditure that raises questions about potential conflicts of interest and the integrity of regulatory oversight in the downstream petroleum industry.
Mr Dangote listed the schools attended by Mr. Ahmed’s children: Faisal Farouk (Montreux School), Farouk Jr. (Aiglon College), Ashraf Farouk (Institut Le Rosey), and Farhana Farouk (La Garenne International School), noting that each child spent six years in these institutions. He estimated annual tuition, travel, and upkeep per child at $200,000, totaling approximately $5 million for their secondary education.
Additionally, he alleged that Mr Ahmed spent another $2 million on tertiary education for the four children, including $210,000 for Faisal’s 2025 Harvard MBA program.
“Nigerians deserve to know the source of these funds, especially when many parents in Mr Ahmed’s home state of Sokoto struggle to pay as little as N10,000 in school fees,” Mr Dangote stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian author, Ms Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and her husband, Dr Ivara Esege, have lost one of their twin sons, Nkanu Nnamdi.
According to a statement issued on Thursday by Ms Omawumi Ogbe, on behalf of the family, the 21-month-old baby passed away on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, after a brief illness.
The statement said the family is devastated by the loss, and requested that their privacy be respected during this difficult time.
“We’re deeply saddened to confirm the passing of one of Ms Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Dr Ivara Esege’s twin boys, Nkanu Nnamdi, who passed on Wednesday, 7th of January 2026, after a brief illness. He was 21 months old.
“The family is devastated by this profound loss, and we request that their privacy be respected during this incredibly difficult time.
“We ask for your grace and prayers as they mourn in private.
“No further statements will be made, and we thank the public and the media for respecting their need for seclusion during this period of immense grief,” the statement read.
Ms Adichie is known for works including Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah and her 2012 Ted Talk and essay We Should All Be Feminists, which was sampled by Beyoncé on her 2013 song Flawless.
The 48 year old writer had her first child, a daughter, in 2016. In 2024, her twin boys were born using a surrogate.
In 2020, her 2006 novel Half of a Yellow Sun was voted the best book to have won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in its 25-year history.
Her latest book, Dream Count, was published in 2025.
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