Ghana targets 127t of artisanal gold annually under sweeping reforms

Ghana plans to channel about 127 metric tons of gold per year from artisanal and small‑scale mining (ASM) into official trade under revised sector reforms to boost foreign-exchange earnings and stem smuggling losses, the country’s finance minister said on Wednesday.

African countries are grappling with major gold leakage from ASM, losing billions in revenue each year as undeclared gold is smuggled through porous borders into global hubs such as Dubai.

Ghana, the continent’s top gold producer, forfeited about $11.4 billion over 2019–2023, according to non-profit foundation Swissaid.

$20 billion annually

Cassiel Ato Forson told Parliament the Ghana Gold Board would be required to buy a minimum of 2.45 tons of ASM gold weekly and consolidate purchases into a formal pipeline targeting more than $20 billion of annual inflows.

The push follows a surge in ASM output, driven by soaring gold prices and Ghana’s creation of the GoldBod in 2025, which helped to lift national production to about 186 tons that year.

Forson said that from next month under the new policy, GoldBod will take full responsibility for negotiating off‑take agreements and selling all ASM gold it procures. The regulator will raise financing to hold three to four weeks’ worth of gold purchases and deploy derivative and hedging tools to manage price risk.

The Bank of Ghana currently funds ASM gold purchases.

“To disincentivize smuggling, GoldBod may employ price incentives through spot world market price purchases and bonuses for licensed miners,” Forson said.

The Bank of Ghana and GoldBod will also sign a deal requiring all foreign exchange from the program to be sold only to the central bank at an agreed rate.

The minister said formalization efforts will be extended to environmental and enforcement efforts, traceability systems, expansion of local refining capacity and reforms to lower operating costs.

Ghana is also pushing ahead with reforms to the mining sector’s financial regime, which large‑scale producers say will choke investment and slow output.

(By Emmanuel Bruce and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Editing by David Goodman)