The Ghana Gold Board has announced plans to establish District Gold Buying Centres across mining districts in Ghana to strengthen oversight, enhance transparency and accountability in the purchase of the commodity.
Chief Executive Officer of the state agency, Sammy Gyamfi explained that the new decision will also improve traceability and protect both licensed buyers and the national interest.
These centres will serve as structured gold markets where purchasing activities can be monitored and recorded.
Addressing the Ghana Association of Small-scale Miners at Anyinam in the Atiwa East District of the Eastern Region, on ongoing reforms undertaken by the Ghana Gold Board, Mr. Gyamfi warned the agency will crack down on persons who fail to operate from the buying centres but engage in underpricing and hoarding.
According to him, the move is part of GoldBod’s broader reform agenda to build a transparent, accountable, and internationally competitive gold trading regime.
“We have given them our licenses and money to purchase gold for us but there is no representation from us to monitor the purchasing agreement so this year we have decided to introduce some refoms to make the trading transparent and beneficial to all stakeholders.,” he announced.
“These Buying Centres will have representation from the Ghana Gold Board, the Minerals Commission, the District or Municipal assembles and the Small-scale Miners association. This is to ensure transparency and accountability in our gold trading business,” he added.
The GoldBod CEO further cautioned the gold buyers, saying “we have decided not to make it mandatory again but henceforth, we will tighten our monitoring supervision to crack the whip on anybody who engages in underpricing and hoarding.”
By centralizing gold purchasing, GoldBod aims to curb smuggling, reduce leakages, and improve pricing efficiency across the gold value chain.
Mr. Gyamfi pledged special incentive packages for licensed buyers who trade the commodity from the District Buying Centres.
“Apart from the special bonuses we offer them, GoldBod has decided to add risk and transportation allowances to encourage the responsible sourcing and purchasing,” he explained.
The current decentralized system makes it difficult to accurately track the quantities of gold purchased from miners and verify the operational locations of licensed buyers, creating room for under-declaration and revenue leakages.
Source:goldbod.gov.gh
