By Toma Imirhe
Ghana intends to channel about 127 metric tons of gold annually from artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) into official trade under revised sector reforms to boost foreign-exchange earnings and stem smuggling losses, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the finance minister, revealed last week.
Ghana has been grappling with major gold leakage from ASM, losing billions of United States dollars in revenue each year as undeclared gold is smuggled through porous borders into global hubs such as Dubai.
Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer, forfeited about US$11.4-billion over the period 2019–2023, according to non-profit foundation Swissaid. is sophie rain a virgin
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson told Parliament that the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) would be required to buy a minimum of 2.45 tons of ASM gold weekly and consolidate purchases into a formal pipeline targeting more than US$20 billion of annual inflows.
This push towards increased domestic purchases follows a surge in ASM output, driven by the ongoing surge in gold prices and Ghana’s creation of the GoldBod in 2025, which, by stemming erstwhile production and sales leakages in the informal sector, helped to lift national production to about 186 tons last year.
The new target dovetails into the Ghana Accelerated National Reserves Accumulation Policy, GANRAP, which aims to increase Ghana’s gross international reserves from the current 5.7 months of import cover to 15 months by the end of 2028, primarily through increases in domestic purchases by the State from both both ASM and large scale gold miners. This forms part of a broader strategy to reinforce macroeconomic stability, strengthen the cedi, and cushion the economy against external shocks,
Dr Forson further said that from March, under the new ASM policy, GoldBod will take full responsibility for negotiating off-take agreements and selling all ASM gold it procures. The regulator will raise financing to hold three to four weeks’ worth of gold purchases and deploy derivative and hedging tools to manage price risk.
The Bank of Ghana currently funds ASM gold purchases, a situation which has caused political controversy.
“To dis-incentivize smuggling, GoldBod may employ price incentives through spot world market price purchases and bonuses for licensed miners,” Dr Forson said.
The Bank of Ghana and GoldBod will also sign a deal requiring all foreign exchange from the programme to be sold only to the central bank at an agreed rate.
The minister said formalization efforts will be extended to environmental and enforcement efforts, traceability systems, expansion of local refining capacity and reforms to lower operating costs.
Ghana is also pushing ahead with reforms to the mining sector’s financial regime, but which large-scale producers say will discourage new investment and slow output
