By Francis Ntow, GNA
Accra, Aug 20, GNA – The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has disclosed that its establishment of a dedicated Taskforce, currently numbering 150, has minimised illegal gold trading and smuggling across the country.
Mr Sammy Gyamfi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), GoldBod, said operations of the taskforce had helped to absorb 170 tonnes of gold through formal export channels over the past one and a half years, bringing over US$17 billion into the country.
It has also made the country reap maximum value from its mineral resources, grown the gold sector, supported macroeconomic stability efforts, and positioned Ghana as the sixth leading gold producer globally.
Briefing the nation during the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, Mr Gyamfi outlined the operational achievements of the task force, emphasising its role in creating value and boosting national volumes.
“A lot of the successes we’ve chalked so far, in terms of the significant increase in ASM (artisanal gold mining) gold export from about 63 metric tonnes in the year 2024 to 104 metric tonnes in the year 2025 is as a result of the tightening of anti-smuggling compliance of the GoldBod,” Mr Gyamfi said.
He touched on the arrest and seizure of gold from suspected smugglers through collaboration with security agencies, including the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), and the Ghana Immigration Service, at Ghana’s entry and exit points, and patrols of the gold market daily.
“These enhanced compliance measures have helped us to increase the quantity of gold that is exported through formal channels. Since 2025 January to date, 170 metric tonnes of gold is what we’ve been able to mop up,” he said.
“That is why Ghana today is not just the lead producer of gold in Africa but number six in the world. We’re not just doing well on the ranking but that good ranking is translating into repatriated forex, which is now supporting market stability.”
Mr Gyamfi reiterated that the Goldbod Taskforce has come to stay and that its success would be measured not only in the tonnes of gold mopped up but in the long-term value created for Ghana’s economy.
He said the strategy of GoldBod ensured that Ghana’s gold met international standards, with the work of the taskforce positioning the country to compete more effectively in global markets and command higher prices for its exports.
Addressing concerns about losses, he explained that they were attributable to the expansion of the domestic gold purchases programme, indicating that improvements to the domestic gold purchasing programme was helping reduce the losses.
“The 2025 DGPP losses are not the product of mismanagement, or misappropriations by the current leaders of the BoG. They are the product of policy design and the price of the economic stabilisation we are enjoying today,” he said.
Mr Gyamfi cited the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attributing the reported DGPP losses of US$1.7 billion to the “scaling up” of the programme, adding that such effort largely increased foreign reserves from US$8.9 billion in 2024 to about US$3bn in 2025.
“It is this same scaling up of the DGPP that largely delivered the appreciation of the Cedi by 41 per cent in 2025, the substantial reduction in inflation from 23.8 per cent to below five per cent and the macro-economic stability we are enjoying today,” he noted.
Mr Gyamfi explained that the implementation of its trade model envisaged under the Ghana Gold Board Act 2025 (ACT 1140), which started in March 2026, was helping to reduce losses incurred under the previous model.
He said the new GoldBod model drew lessons from successful gold reserve management systems in South Africa and Tanzania, adapting them to Ghana’s unique context, building on proven strategies.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Francis Ntow
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