Finance Minister inaugurates Ghana Gold Board, calls for sustained Cedi gains
By: Ernest Afram
The Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has sworn in the newly constituted Governing Board of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), marking a critical milestone in the government’s agenda to restructure the country’s gold industry and strengthen the local currency.
The inauguration, held in Accra on Monday, May 19, 2025, follows the recent passage of the GoldBod Bill by Parliament, which formally establishes the agency as the sole institution mandated to buy, assay, and license the trade of gold from Ghana’s small-scale mining sector.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Forson said the Board’s work is pivotal to President John Dramani Mahama’s broader vision of stabilizing the Ghana cedi through a more coordinated, transparent, and value-driven management of the country’s gold resources.
He explained that for many years, Ghana’s gold revenue was largely limited to royalties and taxes, while poor coordination, fragmented trading systems, and smuggling deprived the country of much-needed foreign exchange.
The Finance Minister pointed out that the former gold trade landscape was dominated by several actors, including state agencies such as the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), private aggregators, individual license holders, and even the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), which had veered off its primary investment mandate.
“Gold purchases were uncoordinated and unregulated. The result was massive smuggling, financial losses, and missed opportunities for the country,” he said.
Dr. Forson stressed that the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board is expected to change this narrative. “GoldBod is now the sole buyer and assayer of gold from small-scale miners. It has the exclusive mandate to issue gold trading licenses and enforce traceability standards that will improve international acceptability,” he said.
According to him, the newly empowered agency is already delivering tangible results, including a remarkable appreciation of the Ghana cedi against the US dollar so far this year, making it one of the best-performing currencies globally in May 2025.
“This is not by chance. It is the result of a well-synchronized policy framework involving disciplined fiscal management, tight monetary policy, robust liquidity controls, and significantly, increased gold reserves built through the GoldBod’s interventions.”
He revealed that Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves at the Bank of Ghana have reached record levels, surpassing targets under the IMF program ahead of schedule.
The GoldBod’s mandate, he added, goes beyond foreign exchange support. The Board is expected to promote local refining, value addition, and gold marketing that expands Ghana’s presence on the global precious metals market.
The newly appointed members of the Gold Board include:
Kojo Fynn, Chairperson
Samuel Gyamfi, Chief Executive Officer of GoldBod
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources
Thomas Nyarko Ampem, Deputy Minister for Finance
Dr. Johnson Asiama, representative of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana
Marietta Brew, legal practitioner and former Attorney-General
Nana Ama Amissah III, a traditional leader representing women
Dr. Forson congratulated the Board and challenged them to work with urgency and integrity to build on the early gains made by the GoldBod.
He urged the newly constituted Board to work hard to support and sustain the current trajectory of economic progress and currency stability. “Together, let us help to propel His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama’s ongoing reset of Ghana’s economy and our effort to deliver economic prosperity for all Ghanaians,” he said.
