A 19-member Technical Committee tasked to develop a legal and operational framework for the establishment of Ghana Gold Board was inaugurated in Accra yesterday. The Committee is also mandated to draft a bill for the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, which is expected to be in existence by March 8 this year. Inaugurating the committee, the Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, said the Gold Board was a flagship initiative by the President, John Dramani Mahama administration for the economic revitalization of the economy. He said the Board was to serve as a vehicle for achieving currency stability through the structured purchasing and management of Ghana’s gold resources.
“As Africa’s leading gold producer, Ghana derives substantial foreign exchange earnings from gold. However, the benefits of this valuable mineral remain minimal, often coming at a steep environmental cost,” the Finance Minister stated. He said historically, Ghana’s revenues from gold had been confined to traditional sources, such as royalties and taxes, adding that the Ghanaian economy had not realized the full benefit of its gold resources. “The time has come for Ghana to expand beyond royalties and taxes by enhancing the entire value chain of gold. As a nation, we must aspire to maximize the full benefit of our gold resources and this involves the optimizing of every stage of the value chain, from extraction to refinery, value addition and marketing, both locally and internationally,” the Finance Minister stated. He said the Ghana Gold Board would serve as a specialized agency to ensure effective marketing of the country’s gold resources.
He said the Board would implement programs to formalize gold trading from a small-scale mining industry and promote traceability with the aim of enhancing international acceptability of gold from the Republic of Ghana. Dr Forson said the chaos in Ghana’s gold purchasing sector prevented the nation from fully benefiting from its gold resources. He said numerous organizations and individuals were buying gold, stressing that, “This fragmented, uncoordinated, and unregulated system has led to a widespread gold smuggling and deprived the state of the much-needed foreign exchange.” “To address these issues, the Ghana Gold Board will be mandated to regulate and streamline the gold sector, particularly the small-scale gold,” Dr Forson stated. He said the Ghana Gold Board would act as the sole buyer of gold from the legal small-scale miners. “Upon its establishment, the Gold Board will also have the exclusive legal right as the sole assayer, seller, and exporter of gold from the small-scale gold miner,” Dr Forson stated. In the year 2024 alone, he said, Ghana exported nearly $5 billion worth of gold from illegal small-scale mining. However, research indicated that the value of gold smuggled out of Ghana from small-scale mining was nearly double the official figures, stressing the need for the Gold Board to streamline the purchase and export of Gold from the small-scale mining sector. He said the development of the legal framework would be completed by February 4, 2025 and the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board by March 8, 2025.The Special Legal Advisor to the President, Marietta Brew Appiah said the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board was dear to the heart of the President. The Acting Managing Director of the Precious Minerals and Marketing Company, Sammy Gyamfi, described the Ghana Gold Board as a noble vision by the President.
The members of the Committee are Sammy Gyamfi; Marietta Agyeiwaa Brew; Dr Abdul Baasit Aziz Bamba, a legal practitioner; and Dr Johnson Asiamah, a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana.
The others are Dr Tony Aubyn, former CEO of the Minerals Commission; Joojo Kakra Bannerman, Head of Financial Markets at Standard Chartered Bank; and Martin Kwaku Ayisi, CEO of the Minerals Commission.
Also on the Committee are Mr Ernest Asiedu Odami, Director of Corporate Planning at PMMC; Sharon Quaye, Head of Business Development at PMMC; and Mohammed Abubakar, Director of Finance at PMMC, Bernard Samua M. Annan, Head of Field Operations at PMMC; Richard Kofi Afenu, a geologist, mineral economist, and legal practitioner; Mr. Kwaku Effah Asuahene, Chairman of the Chamber of Bullion Traders, Ghana, Godwin Nichelsen Armah, General Secretary of the National Association of Small-scale Miners; Roger Kwakye, a gold trading consultant; and a representative from the Office of the Attorney-General.
The rest are Joseph Iroko, Manager of Legal Affairs; Eric Bukari, Manager of Small-scale Mining, both of Minerals Commission; Paul Elikplim Bleboo, Deputy Manager of the Gold Desk at the Bank of Ghana, and Kwabena Agyemang Barning, Chief Technical Officer at MIIF.
Credit: Ghanaian Times