The Bank of Namibia is raising gold from 1% to 3% of its international reserves by the end of March 2027, a target the World Gold Council records in its Central Bank Gold Statistics of 3 September 2026 from a statement by the bank’s deputy governor. The metal is bought inside Namibia under a gold purchase agreement the bank signed with QKR Namibia Navachab on 24 March 2026, which provides for the structured purchase of domestically produced gold on a phased basis.
Mine output is doré, and doré is not Good Delivery metal. The LBMA Good Delivery List carries no refiner in Namibia, so gold bought under the agreement is exported, refined and cast elsewhere before it reaches the form in which a central bank holds and moves reserve metal. A counterparty buying refinery-origin bullion contracts at the far end of that same route: a Heraeus or Argor-Heraeus bar is identified at allocation by refiner mark, serial number and its line on the weight list, and none of the three exists until an accredited refiner has assayed and cast it. What the Bank of Namibia buys is the near end, at the mine gate and ahead of the export step, which is the leg a doré purchase contracts on. Responsible-sourcing obligations sit with the refinery rather than the buyer — the LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance bind refiners on the List — so the chain-of-custody record that travels with Namibian metal is written where it is refined, not where it is bought.
The same World Gold Council release records the Bank of Korea announcing plans to purchase domestically refined gold, and cites its 2026 Central Banks Gold Reserves Survey on central banks increasing domestic storage and diversifying overseas storage locations. A reserve buyer sourcing at home settles refining and placement as two separate questions, in that order, because the second cannot be answered until the metal carries an accredited mark.
The agreement covers purchases from one producer, QKR Namibia Navachab, and the 3% figure is a stated target recorded by the World Gold Council rather than a published reserve position. Good Delivery status is held by refiners against LBMA rules and is unchanged by either.