According to The Star newspaper, Nigerian officials decided in April to bring the country's gold back home "to reduce the risk associated with the US economic downturn." "Rising inflation, rising debt levels and geopolitical tensions and other economic indicators have raised concerns among Nigerian decision-makers about the stability of the US financial system."

Nigeria has about 21 tons of gold reserves. Economist Fatima Abubakar said the gold return plan was "a strategic decision" and the country was taking "proactive measures to protect its wealth and strengthen its financial resilience".

Nigerian officials also said that bringing gold back home would demonstrate the country's self-reliance. "Nigeria's return of its gold reserves not only strengthens its control over its financial assets, but also demonstrates a prudent approach to managing economic risks in the face of global uncertainties."

Nigeria is not the only country that wants to control its gold reserves and bring them back home. India recently brought back 100 tonnes of gold from UK vaults. Many countries are concerned about the use of gold and dollar reserves by the US and other Western powers as diplomatic weapons.

According to a survey by the World Gold Council in 2023, after the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US and other Western countries froze nearly half of Russia's $650 billion gold and foreign exchange reserves in potential sanctions concerns. According to World Gold Council data, 68% of surveyed banks said they planned to keep their gold reserves in their own country. This is higher than the 50% in 2020.

An anonymous central bank official told Reuters, "We do hold gold in London... but we have now moved it back to our country as a safe-haven asset to ensure its safety."

Rod Ringrow, an official at Invesco, told Reuters this reflected a common view: "If it's my gold, I want it in my country," which is what we've heard in the last year or so.

Some have speculated that countries have been transferring gold and other assets out of the US since imposing sanctions on Russia, but it is difficult to verify as the Federal Reserve refuses to disclose information about the amount of gold in its vaults.

In March this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell dodged a question from Representative Alex Mooney about the central bank's foreign gold holdings. Fed officials also refused FOIA requests for records of such holdings.

As investigative journalist Ken Silva wrote, Headline USA filed a FOIA request with the Fed for records reflecting how much gold the New York Fed currently holds in its vaults. The Fed denied the request.

The trend of gold returning has begun even before the West's sanctions against Russia. In 2019, Poland brought back 100 tonnes of gold. Hungary and Romania also repatriated some of their gold reserves at the same time. In the summer of 2017, Germany completed a project to bring about half of its gold reserves back home. In 2015, Australia launched an effort to bring back half its reserves. The Netherlands and Belgium have also launched return plans.

This trend of gold repatriation highlights the importance of holding physical gold that has no counterparty risk.

If you store gold and silver with third parties, you may lose gold and silver due to theft, fraud, or disasters. Of course, gold and silver stored at home may also be lost in the same way, so you must weigh the risks of using third-party storage and storing large amounts of gold and silver at home. If you choose a third-party vault, it is critical to choose a trusted company.