RAKEZ Digital Commodities Platform Goes Live for Precious Metals Sector
For Immediate Release
RAS AL KHAIMAH, UAE — RAKEZ has launched its Digital Commodities Platform, a comprehensive technology system providing precious metals and minerals sector companies registered within the free zone with digital tools for supply chain documentation, compliance reporting, counterparty due diligence, and transaction management.
The platform provides RAKEZ metals companies with a centralised digital environment for managing the documentation-intensive requirements of responsible precious metals supply chain operation. Key features include digital chain of custody record management, automated compliance reporting against RAKEZ's Precious Metals Compliance Framework, a counterparty due diligence registry enabling companies to access verified information on other RAKEZ-registered entities, and integration with the RAK assay centre for digital certificate management.
The platform has been developed with particular attention to the needs of African supply chain operators, many of whom are managing documentation across multiple jurisdictions and in multiple formats. The platform's document management system accepts a wide range of input formats and provides standardised outputs that meet RAKEZ compliance requirements regardless of the format in which originating documentation was created.
Integration with the DMCC's Digital Gold Passport system means that gold entering the RAKEZ ecosystem with a DMCC Digital Passport can have its provenance record imported directly into the RAKEZ platform, eliminating the need for duplicate documentation across the Dubai and RAK legs of a supply chain journey.
"Digital infrastructure for supply chain documentation is no longer a competitive advantage — it is becoming a baseline requirement for professional operation in the precious metals sector. RAKEZ deploying a platform that handles the documentation requirements of its compliance framework, integrates with counterpart systems in Dubai, and serves the practical needs of African supply chain operators puts the free zone at the standard that the most demanding international buyers now expect." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
The counterparty due diligence registry is a particularly valuable innovation. It enables RAKEZ members to access verified compliance information on other registered entities, streamlining the due diligence process for new commercial relationships and reducing the time and cost of establishing the documented counterparty assessment that responsible sourcing frameworks require.
The platform is accessible through both desktop and mobile interfaces and has been designed for use by operators in the field in African producing nations as well as by compliance and finance teams in UAE offices. This accessibility reflects RAKEZ's understanding that supply chain documentation needs to be captured at the point of production, not retrospectively reconstructed in a UAE office.
"A platform that works in the field in Uganda as well as in a compliance officer's office in Ras Al Khaimah is the right tool for the supply chains RAKEZ is building. The documentation quality of a supply chain is determined at its weakest point, and that weakest point is usually in the field at the moment of transaction. A mobile-accessible system that captures information at source transforms the quality and reliability of the documentation that arrives at the trading hub end." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
RAKEZ has indicated that the platform will be progressively enhanced with additional features including automated suspicious transaction flagging, integration with UAE financial intelligence systems, and a buyer-seller matching function that will connect compliant African supply chain operators with RAKEZ-registered buyers seeking documented material.
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