Your Royal Majesty, Otumfour Osei Tutu II, The Honorable minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Ministers of States herein seated, Members of Parliament, Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Representatives of Government Agencies across the subregion, Captains of Industry, Members of Civil Society Organisations, Nananom, Friends from the Media, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen; good morning to you all.
It is a great privilege to address you at this crucial Summit in our nation’s capital. To our guests from outside Ghana, let me formally say ‘Akwaaba’ to wit “welcome” from the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod).
Before I proceed, I wish to commend His Royal Highness, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for his vision in putting together this historic and transformational event.
I also recognize the hard work and diligence of my brother, Nana Kwaku Duah, and his team of organisers at the Ashanti Green Initiative for being the boots on the ground to make His Majesty’s vision a manifest reality.
Your Highness, ladies, and gentlemen, as you may be aware, Ghana is currently the largest producer of gold in Africa and a key player in the extractive sector of Africa and the world at large.
However, despite its enviable reputation, the country has had challenges in maximising its gold resource for the prosperity of its people.
This disconnect may be likened to a butcher who is starved of protein.
There are a number of factors which have contributed to the disparity between the country’s rich gold prospects and its actual gains.
One of the main reasons for this setback was the fragmented, unstructured and poorly-regulated gold trading sector of the country.
This challenge, among other things, limited market access for the country’s artisanal small scale gold and fueled uncontrolled smuggling over the years. This sad situation led to huge revenue losses to the state and denied our economy of much-needed forex for economic stability and transformation.
For many years, Ghana’s poorly-regulated gold trading sector denied the country from reaping the full benefits of its rich gold resource.
Thankfully, this hurdle is now a thing of the past thanks to the visionary President of our dear nation, His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama, who conceived the novel idea of the Ghana Gold Board (Goldbod) to save a promising sector which has been bleeding from poor regulation and disjointed supervision.
The establishment of the Ghana GoldBod has paved the way for a redefining era of leadership, regulation and transformation of Ghana’s challenged gold trading sector for the optimization of national benefits.
The GoldBod is a product of broad and extensive stakeholder consultations and essentially, THE CENTRAL STATE AGENCY mandated by law to oversee, regulate and undertake the buying, selling, assaying, refining and exportation of gold for the purpose of generating foreign exchange for the country, supporting gold reserve accumulation by the Bank of Ghana and promoting supply chain sustainability.
Thus, the GoldBod and only the GoldBod is the sole buyer and exporter of all artisanal small-scale gold in Ghana.
Additionally, the Goldbod has the right to buy a portion, or all of the gold produced by large scale mining firms in line with the government’s preemption rights, exercised by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources
Having taken over the rights, obligations, assets and liabilities of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company, we at the Ghana Gold Board have hit the ground running and are already making significant strides
We tightened regulatory controls, launched a ruthless fight against gold smuggling and deployed effective aggregation systems across the country that helps us to mop up over 90% of all ASM gold. These measures have accounted for the unprecedented gold purchases and exports we have recorded this year.
Ladies and gentlemen, from February 2025 to May, 2025, the PMMC, now GoldBod, on its own, has purchased and exported for the Bank of Ghana, gold from the Artisanal Small-scale Mining sector to the tune of 40 billion Ghana cedis, with an export value of approximately $4 billion United States dollars.
Thus, for the first time, gold exports from the Artisanal Small-scale mining sector of Ghana has exceeded gold exports from the large scale sector.
Indeed, the total gross weight of ASM gold exported either by or through the PMMC now GoldBod, from January to May 2025, stands at a whopping 41.5 tonnes.
This, coupled with the prudent monetary and fiscal policies of the government has significantly increased forex liquidity in the market and accelerated foreign reserves accumulation leading to the sustained appreciation of the national currency and a positive impact in the living conditions for our people.
Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, in the just ended month of May 2025 alone, gold purchases and exports by the GoldBod from the artisanal small-scale sector hit a record high of 11 tonnes with an export value of a staggering $1.172 billion United States dollars.
The data shows the great prospects of the Artisanal Small-scale mining sector to our economy and the general well-being of our dear country if properly harnessed. As the President stated yesterday at this summit, “artisanal miners are not enemies of the state- when properly trained and supported, they can be allies of development”.
The GoldBod is committed to tapping and maximizing the full potential of the Artisanal Small-scale mining sector by supporting sustainable artisanal mining and promoting responsible sourcing by all gold traders in the ASM sector.
To strengthen regulatory oversight and promote responsible sourcing and traceability, the GoldBod has began the licensing of all players in the Gold trading sector of the country.
Our license categories range from aggregation licenses to buying licenses to refining license, smelting license, transportation license, export partnership license, among others.
Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, licensees of the GoldBod are subject to a strict code of responsible sourcing and continuous due diligence by the GoldBod, working in conjunction with the Bank of Ghana and the Financial Intelligence Center in line with our Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing policies.
As you may be aware, the GoldBod Act proscribes foreigners from engaging in direct gold purchases from the local market. However, foreigners are allowed and encouraged to apply directly to the GoldBod to purchase or off-take gold from the board. Foreigners may also partner Ghanaian applicants of self-financing aggregation license from the GoldBod. Again, foreigners may apply for a license from the GoldBod to establish refineries, jewelry factories and other forms of value addition enterprises.
I therefore wish to use this opportunity to invite our foreign guests herein gathered and those who are monitoring this program from afar, to take advantage of the numerous opportunities in the mining, trading and value addition space of Ghana for mutual benefits.
Ladies and gentlemen, while we may be glad about the initial successes chalked so far, the GoldBod’s journey of creating a positive and lasting economic impact has just began. Without resting on our laurels in the brief period of our establishment, the Goldbod is determined to fly higher in executing its mandate for the benefit of Ghanaians and our investor partners.
Before the end of this year, the GoldBod will roll out a digital traceability technology for its entire supply chain. This traceability system will enhance market access and value of the country’s ASM gold. In the medium to long term, it will ensure that every gram of gold purchased by the GoldBod is traceable throughout its various custody points, all the way to the mine it was produced. And that mine must be a licensed mine engaged in legal, responsible and sustainable mining in accordance with the mining laws of Ghana and international best practices.
Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, effective September 2025, the GoldBod shall, in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources begin the training of artisanal small scale miners in environmentally-friendly mining and mordern recovery optimization techniques.
To further increase Ghana’s ASM gold output, the GoldBod and its investor partners will invest in the cooperative mining program of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
We will also partner with hard rock small-scale, medium-scale and large scale mining firms to maximize the sustainable production of gold in the country and national revenue for development. Investors who will be partnering the GoldBod in this program, will receive payments for their investment in discounts on gold over a 24-36 months period.
Let me also state, that the GoldBod is committed to spending a significant portion of our trading surplus on land reclamation and other sustainable initiatives such as the Blue Water and Tree for Life programs launched by government.
We will invest in geological investigations to make available accurate geological data for sustainable ASM, medium-scale and large scale mining to bring to an end the phenomenon of lottery mining.
Under our corporate social responsibility policy, a significant chunk of our trade surplus will be invested into the provision of mordern education and health facilities, scholarships for brilliant but needy students, potable water systems and other social-economic projects to alleviate the plight of mining communities, most of whom are victims of the ravages of illegal mining.
Ladies and gentlemen, the days of illegal gold trading and uncontrolled gold smuggling have come to an end. The GodlBod will ensure that Ghana’s gold is traded and exported legally and the forex proceeds thereof, fully repatriated to support our economy and improve the livelihoods of our people. We shall not rest until every gold smuggler is put behind bars.
In the coming weeks, the GoldBod shall in conjunction with the National Security Secretariat launch a standing anti-gold smuggling taskforce, to further strengthen our fight against the illicit menace. All persons who fall foul of the law will be dealt with no matter whose ox is gored. No one will be spared.
Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, we at the Ghana Gold Board understand, that Value addition is the surest way of maximizing national benefits from the country’s rich mineral deposits.
In this regard, the GoldBod will soon move Ghana away from the export of dore’ to bullion in the short to medium term.
We are currently working with local refineries with clear medium-term paths to LMBA accreditation, to ensure that this dream of moving away from the export of dore’ to bullion becomes a reality.
Let me also say, that the GodlBod is opened to symbiotic partnerships to actualize the vision of President Mahama to establish a “Gold Village” in Ghana to serve as a hub of gold jewelry and ornaments in Africa.
Ladies and gentlemen, in line with our mandate as the National Assayer, we have commenced work for the establishment of an international standard (ISO certified and LBMA compliant) assay laboratory by 2026. A land for this project has been secured. This international standard assay lab will ensure that all gold being exported from Ghana are subjected to fire assay to ensure accurate purity determination and valuation.
Conclusion
Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, Ghana is strongly committed to sustainable mining, responsible sourcing, supply chain traceability and value addition to maximize benefits.
I wish to extend a warm hand of invitation to the LBMA, the World Gold Council, the OECD, and the global investor community across the entire mining value chain, to partner with Ghana in the area of sustainable mining, responsible sourcing and value addition to attain the best of mutual outcomes.
Ghana is ready! The Goldbod is prepared!! And together, we can all sail to higher realms of dividends in the mining sector where the environment is preserved, lives are bettered, and communities are uplifted!
Thank you for your attention.
