Sammy Gyamfi, CEO of the Ghana Gold Board, has announced a decisive policy shift to end the export of raw gold, marking what he describes as a turning point in Ghana’s mineral value chain.
Speaking on PM Express Business Edition with George Wiafe, he said Ghana has historically failed to maximise value from its gold despite being a major producer.
“Ghana, since we started mining gold, even when we were the Gold Coast till 2024, we have always exported gold in this raw form.
“We’ve had a few refineries in the country, but the refineries have not gotten the needed support from the government to be able to refine a significant portion of the gold that we produce before we export,” he said.
He noted that the absence of strong local refining has long undermined value addition.
“So value addition has been a challenge for many years, but when President Mahama was appointing me, it was one of the matching orders he gave as part of his reset agenda for the sector,” he added.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, the directive from President John Mahama was clear.
“He wanted to see an end and a move away from a dore, what we call raw gold, to bullion or refined gold, so that we can optimise benefits from the entire value chain,” he said.
Sammy Gyamfi stressed that the Gold Board has already begun implementing that vision.
“That is why we as Gold Board, has taken up that task, the President gave us very seriously. And so we are changing that narrative as we speak. We have commenced local value conditions, starting with local refining in Ghana,” he stated.
