Africa controls close to 30% of the world’s mineral reserves and nearly 40% of global gold deposits. Yet, for decades, extractive economic systems rooted in colonial-era structures have ensured that most of this wealth benefits foreign investors and a narrow elite, rather than ordinary Africans. Today, a new generation of entrepreneurs believes technology can rewrite that story. Among them is Mamadou Toure, founder and chief executive of Ubuntu Tribe, who is using blockchain to democratise access to gold investment across the continent.
Toure’s vision is simple but ambitious: allow Africans to own fractional shares of physical gold through secure, tradeable digital tokens. By leveraging blockchain technology, Ubuntu Tribe aims to turn gold from an inaccessible asset into a practical savings and investment tool for everyday people.
Democratising Access to Gold Through Tokenisation
At the core of Ubuntu Tribe’s model is tokenisation, a process that converts physical assets into digital certificates of ownership recorded on a blockchain. Toure explains that the company has issued a token called $GIFT, short for Gold International Fungible Token.
Each $GIFT represents exactly one milligram of physical gold and is backed one-to-one by gold stored in secure vaults in cities such as Zurich, Stuttgart, Copenhagen, and Dubai. Instead of transporting gold, investors trade digital certificates of ownership at prevailing market prices on the blockchain.
This structure dramatically lowers the barrier to entry. With each token worth roughly 10 US cents, users can gain exposure to gold without needing large amounts of capital. For millions of Africans excluded from traditional investment markets, this opens the door to a historically reliable store of value.
Building a Pan-African Financial Bridge
To ensure accessibility, Ubuntu Tribe has partnered with local fintech companies and mobile money operators. This allows users to move seamlessly between local currencies, mobile money platforms, cryptocurrencies, and tokenised gold within the Ubuntu Tribe wallet.
Since launching in late 2023, $GIFT has recorded over $100m in trading volume across exchanges. Toure says the platform now serves more than 30,000 customers, with over 10,000 wallet downloads to date. Behind the scenes, the company spent two years building a globally compliant system and is currently regulated in Europe. Regulatory approvals in Kenya and the Gulf Cooperation Council are now underway.
Gold as a Hedge Against Currency Depreciation
Demand for tokenised gold is growing rapidly, and Toure believes macroeconomic pressures across Africa are a major driver. Many African currencies, including the Nigerian naira, Ghanaian cedi, and Egyptian pound, have experienced sharp depreciation in recent years.
Gold, by contrast, has acted as a powerful hedge. Since 2000, it has risen more than 1,300% against the US dollar. Over the past five years alone, it surged nearly 800% against the naira, significantly preserving purchasing power for those holding the metal.
In 2025, gold prices climbed more than 70%, marking the strongest annual performance since 1979. Prices briefly exceeded $4,500 an ounce in late December, driven by central bank purchases and heightened demand for safe-haven assets. While analysts such as JP Morgan project prices could reach $5,400 an ounce by 2027, Toure is careful to stress that no investment comes with guarantees.
Managing Risk Through Education and Diversification
Toure acknowledges that past performance does not ensure future returns. To help users manage risk, Ubuntu Tribe has built diversification and education directly into its platform. In addition to gold, the wallet offers exposure to Bitcoin and other digital assets, enabling users to spread risk across multiple asset classes.
Education is a central pillar of the company’s strategy. Through the Ubuntu Academy, users gain access to financial literacy resources designed for non-crypto natives. The company has also invested in an AI-powered assistant that delivers simple, conversational guidance on gold, savings, risk, and tokenisation, tailored to each user’s context.
“Our goal is not just wealth creation,” Toure says, “but building a generation of informed citizens who understand both the opportunities and risks of investment.”
Institutional Interest and Global Expansion
Beyond retail users, Ubuntu Tribe is positioning $GIFT as a tool for businesses and institutions seeking to hedge against currency volatility. According to Toure, institutional investors are increasingly interested because the tokenised gold is regulated, audited, and fully backed by physical reserves.
In December, Ubuntu Tribe announced a partnership with Global Settlement Network to dramatically reduce Africa–EU transfer times and bring more than $5bn worth of gold on-chain. The initiative aims to use tokenised gold as a settlement asset, reducing reliance on costly dollar-based correspondent banking. A 12-month pilot will focus on gold traceability and a cross-border FX corridor, followed by programmable gold tokens and integrations with government and central bank systems by 2028.
From Corporate Finance to Disruptive Entrepreneurship
Before founding Ubuntu Tribe, Toure spent over 20 years in senior finance roles at firms including KPMG, BNP Paribas, International Finance Corporation, and General Electric. Leaving a stable career was not easy, but he says innovation happens beyond comfort zones.
He believes blockchain offers Africa a chance to rethink how wealth is measured and managed. In his view, Africa is not poor but illiquid, rich in assets yet constrained by financial systems that undervalue them. Tokenising natural resources, he argues, could help shift focus from GDP, a fiat-based metric, to real asset-backed wealth.
Despite resistance from those invested in the status quo, the Cameroonian entrepreneur remains optimistic. For Toure, blockchain is not just a technology but a tool to rebalance access, ownership, and opportunity across the continent.
