The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Mr. SammySammySammy Sammy Gyamfi, Esq. has addressed concerns surrounding reports of losses incurred by the Bank of Ghana, offering clarification on the figures and the role of gold purchases and exports in strengthening the country’s foreign exchange position.
In a statement, the GoldBod CEO explained that the claims of losses, when placed in proper context, do not accurately reflect the broader economic impact of gold-backed transactions and foreign exchange inflows.
He emphasized that GoldBod’s operations have contributed significantly to stabilising the cedi, supporting external payments, and reinforcing the Bank of Ghana’s foreign reserves through structured gold purchasing and export programmes.
Below is his post on Facebook concerning the issue:
While the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) values and appreciates, feedback and constructive criticism, it is important to clarify certain misconceptions making rounds in the media space about the trade operations of the GoldBod.
1. First and foremost, the Ghana Gold Board has made no losses. Rather, the GoldBod has made significant profit/surplus under its gold trading programs in the year 2025. Financial statements of the GoldBod (unaudited) published on its website, bear this fact out and indicate that the institution is set to declare income surplus of not less than GH600 million for the year 2025.
2. The GoldBod has this year been responsible for only the local purchasing, assay and export of gold for the Bank of Ghana (BoG). The selling or trading of gold purchased by GoldBod to off-takers lies in the exclusive domain of the BoG.
3. The GoldBod is not aware of any loss of $214 million incurred by the BoG under the Gold for Reserve Program on account of “GoldBod offtaker fees”. The financials of the Gold for Reserve and Gold for Forex programs of the Bank of Ghana for the year 2025 are yet to be audited.
4. For the records, there is nothing like “GoldBod offtaker fees” under the ASM gold trading program. That assertion is incorrect. The GoldBod per its 2025 operations, does not deal with off-takers. Neither does the GoldBod charge any off-taker fees. All off-take agreements are signed and implemented by the Bank of Ghana. Under these off-take agreements, discounts covering freight, insurance, refining charges etc. are granted by the BoG to off-takers.
5. The only fees the GoldBod takes from the BoG, is a statutory Assay Fee of 0.25% and a Service Charge of 0.5%. These fees are not new. In fact, they were inherited by the GoldBod from a 2023 Gold Purchase Agreement between the BoG and the defunct PMMC. There has been no increase by the GoldBod of these fees in the year 2025. Additionally, commissions to licensed buyers are borne by the BoG.
6. It remains an indisputable fact, that the GoldBod has generated over $10 billion dollars in foreign exchange for the country in 2025 alone from its local purchasing of over 100 tons of ASM gold for the BoG. The GoldBod also buys 20% of the gold output of nine large scale companies for the BoG to shore up its gold reserves.
7. This coupled with other factors, have led to a historic increase in the country’s foreign reserves from $9 billion in 2016 to a record high of about $12 billion dollars in 2025. As a result, the Ghana cedi has appreciated against the U.S dollar from year to date by over 35% making it the first time since 2007, that the cedi has appreciated against the U.S. dollar. This has significantly reduced the country’s debt obligations, kept inflation at single digit and reduced general cost of living. These gains have positively impacted every facet of the Ghanaian economy.
8. What would have been the state of the Ghanaian economy today without the $10 billion FX inflows from just the ASM trade operations of the GoldBod this year? The economic benefits of GoldBod’s operations are simply unquantifiable.
9. The GoldBod is barely eight months old. Its operations in 2025 have largely been one of an agent role for the BoG. The GoldBod is simply paid a statutory Assay Fee of 0.258% and a service charge of 0.5% for services it renders to the BoG, as per the 2023 Gold Purchase Agreement between the PMMC and the BoG. As a non-subvented state agency, these fees constitute the bulk of the corporation’s IGF for the smooth running of its operations.
10. The GoldBod is set to fully takeover the ASM gold trading program effective January 2026. Under this new arrangement, the GoldBod will solely be responsible for both the purchasing, trading and sale of gold under the program, with no fee obligation to the BoG. The issue of GoldBod’s fees and charges and their impact on BoG’s books will thus, be a thing of the past in the year 2026. The GoldBod is ready to embrace this new challenge and use its revolving seed trade capital allocated to it by government to deliver positive returns for the Ghanaian people. The future is bright for Ghana.
