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The Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, yesterday established a Technical Committee to design a legal framework for the Ghana Gold Board ( GoldBod ), marking a major step towards economic revitalisation. Prominent members of the press attended the ceremony, which was held at the Ministry of Finance.
President John Dramani Mahama envisioned the GoldBod, a flagship program designed to achieve monetary stability through organized management of Ghana’s gold reserves.
Ghana, Africa’s top producer of gold, has made a significant amount of foreign cash from the precious metal, but it has not completely benefited from it and frequently faces high environmental costs.
Traditionally, royalties and taxes have been the only ways Ghana has been able to profit from gold. Dr. Forson stressed that the country must go beyond these strategies and promote the optimisation of the whole gold value chain, from extraction to refining and marketing. He emphasized the significance of formalizing gold trading from the small-scale mining sector and fostering traceability for improved worldwide acceptance of Ghana’s gold, saying, “The Gold Board will serve as a specialized agency for effective marketing of our gold resources.”
With several organisations active in gold transactions, such as the Bank of Ghana and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), the current gold buying environment in Ghana is chaotic. Significant foreign exchange losses and widespread smuggling have resulted from this disjointed structure. By serving as the exclusive purchaser of gold from the legitimate small-scale mining industry, the GoldBod is expected to expedite these procedures.
Minister Forson urged industry participants and stakeholders to embrace this initiative, which he described as a crucial weapon for currency stability and economic revitalisation, as he wrapped up his speech.
