By: Magdalene Andoh
President John Dramani Mahama has highlighted the transformative role of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) in Ghana’s economic reset, citing the institution as a key driver of increased gold exports, foreign exchange inflows and domestic value addition in the mining sector.
Speaking at the Parliament of Zambia during an official address, President Mahama outlined Ghana’s broader economic reforms while drawing attention to GoldBod’s contribution to restoring sovereignty and value capture in the country’s gold industry.
“Ghana established the GoldBod in April last year to take control of and regulate our gold exports. The GoldBod was given sole authority to export gold out of Ghana,” the President stated.
He revealed that since the establishment of the Board, Ghana has recorded a significant surge in gold exports from the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector.
“Since the establishment of the Board, gold exports from the artisanal and small-scale mining sector have increased from 63 tonnes to 104 tonnes in 10 months,” President Mahama said, describing the development as a major boost to the economy.
Highlighting the financial impact of the reforms, he added; “And the sweetest part of it is that, this 104 tonnes have earned Ghana over 10 billion dollars in forex inflow.”
President Mahama framed the GoldBod reforms within a broader African push for greater sovereignty over natural resources, stressing that countries must move beyond exporting raw materials with little local value addition.
He noted that Ghana is actively changing that narrative by restructuring its gold value chain.
“We are also taking steps to domesticate the value addition of our minerals. The GoldBod has recently signed an agreement with a local gold refinery to refine about 1 tonne of gold every week rather than exporting the raw gold,” he told lawmakers.
The President further indicated that Ghana’s approach under GoldBod forms part of a wider strategy to deepen local processing across the extractive sector.
“We aim to commence the local processing of our manganese and bauxite as well instead of exporting the raw ores,” he said.
President Mahama also underscored recent policy reforms aimed at ensuring Ghana derives fair value from its mineral resources, including the replacement of the flat-rate royalty system with a sliding scale linked to international prices.
His remarks to the Zambian Parliament positioned GoldBod as a central pillar of Ghana’s economic transformation agenda, one that aligns with his call for African countries to leverage their natural resource endowments, strengthen indigenous participation in extractive industries and retain greater value within their economies.
