The acting Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Sammy Gyamfi, has emphasized the need to reform Ghana’s gold export system through the proposed GoldBod framework, which will grant exclusive authority to a single state-backed entity for gold exports.

Mr. Gyamfi, speaking on JoyNews' PM Express on Tuesday, March 25, highlighted the financial setbacks caused by the current unregulated export system.

He noted that Ghana has been losing significant foreign exchange earnings, which has contributed to the depreciation of the Cedi.

“The unstructured, unregulated system led to a situation where we were not getting the forex we are supposed to get as a nation, from the gold we export from Ghana,” he explained.

Currently, multiple entities, including private companies licensed by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, as well as institutions like the PMMC and the Bank of Ghana, are involved in gold exports. However, Mr. Gyamfi pointed out that many private exporters struggle to compete in the market, leading some to shut down operations while others resort to smuggling.

“If the person wants to export through legal means, he loses out completely. So most of these people, especially the foreigners, they buy to smuggle, and when they smuggle, the state is deprived or denied of the forex,” he said.

According to him, the smuggling of gold has worsened Ghana’s foreign exchange crisis, making it difficult for businesses to access dollars, which in turn raises the cost of imports and drives inflation.

To tackle these challenges, Mr. Gyamfi outlined the GoldBod initiative, which will centralize all gold exports under a single entity. This approach, he stressed, will ensure that foreign exchange earnings from gold sales are promptly repatriated to stabilize the Cedi.

“So under the GoldBod, no one can export gold except the GoldBod, and once we are the ones exporting, all the dollars will come back,” he stated.

Under the existing system, private gold exporters are mandated to return 80% of their forex earnings within 30 days, but compliance has been a major issue. Mr. Gyamfi assured that GoldBod will eliminate delays in forex repatriation, guaranteeing that 90% of gold export earnings are credited to the Bank of Ghana on the same day, with the remaining amount arriving within 48 hours.

“When you have GoldBod, you buy the gold, you export the gold. When you export the gold that same day, you get 90% of the dollars in the country. It's in your account at the Bank of Ghana.

“So we don’t have to wait for 30 days for an exporter, a private person, to bring us dollars. Because it is GoldBod, once we export that same day, we get 90 to 95% of the dollars, and within 48 hours, the remainder of the dollars come,” he assured.

The GoldBod framework, if implemented, is expected to enhance transparency, curb smuggling, and strengthen Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves by ensuring direct and immediate repatriation of earnings from gold exports.