FINANCE MINISTER, DR. CASSIEL ATO FORSON, Ph.D., INAUGURATES TECHNICAL COMMITTEE TO DRAFT A LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GHANA GOLD BOARD (GOLDBOD).
1. Distinguished members of the press, I warmly welcome you this afternoon to the Ministry of Finance.
2. Today, we gather to inaugurate a Technical Committee tasked with developing the legal and operational framework, particularly the drafting of a Bill for the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod).
3. The GoldBod is a flagship initiative envisioned by His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama for economic revitalization.
4. It seeks to serve as a vehicle for achieving currency stability through the structured purchasing and management of Ghana’s gold resources.
5. As Africa’s leading gold producer, Ghana derives substantial foreign exchange earnings from gold. However, the benefits accrued from this valuable mineral remain minimal, often coming at a steep environmental cost.
6. Historically, Ghana’s revenues from gold have been confined to traditional sources such as royalties and taxes.
7. The Ghanaian economy has not realized the full benefit of our gold resources.
8. The time has come for Ghana to expand beyond royalties and taxes by harnessing the entire value chain of gold.
9. As a nation, we must aspire to maximize the full benefits of our gold resources.
10. This involves optimizing every stage of the value chain—from extraction to refining, value addition and marketing, both locally and internationally.
11. The Ghana Gold Board will serve as a specialized agency for effective marketing of our gold resources.
12. This will involve the implementation of a deliberate program to formalize gold trading from the small scale mining industry and promote traceability with the aim of enhancing the international acceptability of gold from Ghana.
13. Currently, the chaos in Ghana’s gold purchasing sector prevents the nation from fully benefiting from its gold resources.
14. Presently, the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) has the mandate to purchase and sell gold. However, this mandate is not exclusive.
15. The Bank of Ghana also purchases gold through PMMC and other private aggregators under initiatives such as “gold for forex,” “gold for reserves”, gold for oil,” and “gold for cash” among others.
16. Additionally, the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), despite its primary mandate to optimize mineral investment, has ventured into gold buying, incurring substantial financial losses.
17. Also, numerous individual Ghanaians and foreigners with export licenses and/or gold buying licenses are active in the gold purchases and export market.
18. This fragmented, uncoordinated and unregulated system has led to widespread gold smuggling and deprived the state of much-needed foreign exchange.
19. To address these issues, the Ghana Gold Board will be mandated to regulate and streamline the sector.
20. It will act as the sole buyer of gold from the legal small-scale mining sector through licensed aggregators and local traders.
21. Upon its establishment, the GoldBod will also have exclusive legal rights as the sole assayer, seller, and exporter of gold purchased from small-scale miners.
22. The enabling legislation will clearly outline these mandates and amend relevant sections of the Minerals Commission’s export regulations and other ancillary legislations.
23. This will ensure 100% repatriation of forex from the export of gold from the small-scale mining industry to support our national currency.
24. The GoldBod will ensure strong monitoring and compliance measures which will help curtail black-market and smuggling of gold.
25. It is important to note that the GoldBod will not assume the regulatory mandate of the Minerals Commission over the small-scale mining sector. Instead, it will complement its role.
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