By Magdalene Andoh
President John Dramani Mahama has outlined an ambitious plan to leverage Ghana’s gold resources to build what he describes as an “economic war chest” to protect the country from future financial shocks and secure long-term prosperity.
Delivering his State of the Nation Address in Parliament, President Mahama said sustained high global gold prices present Ghana with a rare opportunity to strengthen its economic resilience, stabilise the cedi, and improve living standards.
“Mr. Speaker, it is forecast that gold prices will remain high over the next three years and so this presents us the unique opportunity to build an economic war chest to withstand any global shocks, secure our macroeconomic stability, improve the standard of living of our citizens, and build lasting prosperity for future generations,” he stated.
Central to this strategy is the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), which has been mandated to spearhead the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves through structured gold purchases from artisanal small-scale miners and selected large-scale mining firms.
GoldBod plans to purchase up to 127 tonnes of gold annually from licensed miners across the country. Since its establishment, the Board has overseen a significant surge in formal gold exports. In the past 10 months alone, 103 tonnes of gold were exported, generating more than $10 billion in foreign exchange inflows.
President Mahama credited GoldBod’s operations for boosting Ghana’s international reserves to $13.8 billion, covering approximately 5.7 months of imports. He noted that formalising gold exports has also helped curb smuggling and increase recorded output in the artisanal small-scale mining sector, which rose to 66.3 tonnes by the end of 2024.
The government’s broader objective is to strengthen international reserves, stabilise the currency, and secure access to foreign exchange without increasing public debt.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson recently announced that GoldBod will anchor the country’s first comprehensive national framework aimed at accelerating reserve accumulation and sustaining macroeconomic stability.
The initiative, dubbed the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANARAP), seeks to leverage gold resources to deepen external reserves, enhance economic stability, and reinforce Ghana’s sovereignty over its natural wealth.
With gold prices projected to remain elevated over the medium term, the government believes the policy could mark a turning point in Ghana’s efforts to build a stronger and more shock-resistant economy.
