The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) is targeting stronger foreign exchange earnings from gold exports, with between 80 and 90 per cent of the gold it purchases now undergoing local refining before export, its Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, has disclosed.
The development signals a shift towards retaining more economic value from Ghana’s gold resources, as the Board seeks to expand local employment, support domestic industries and reduce the outflow of revenue associated with refining gold abroad.
Appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Mr Gyamfi said GoldBod was on course to meet or exceed its 2025 gold purchase and export performance while substantially improving on its foreign exchange generation targets.
He said the institution remained committed to its statutory mandate of generating foreign exchange, supporting the accumulation of national reserves and regulating the country’s gold trading sector.
“This year we are on track to at least meet and possibly exceed our 2025 gold purchase and export targets, as well as substantially exceeding our foreign exchange generation targets for the year 2025, which was 10.8 billion United States dollars,” he told the committee.
Local refining to boost jobs and retain revenue
Mr Gyamfi said the decision to refine a significant proportion of the gold locally before export was helping Ghana capture additional economic benefits that would otherwise accrue to foreign refining destinations.
According to him, local refineries are operating around the clock and employing Ghanaians, particularly young people, while ensuring that refining fees remain within the domestic economy.
“I’m happy to report to this honourable committee that, as we speak, about 80 to 90 per cent of the gold we purchase and export is refined here locally,” he said.
He explained that the expansion of local refining was creating opportunities for employment and strengthening the domestic gold value chain.
The arrangement, he added, was also helping Ghana retain revenue from activities associated with processing its mineral resources instead of exporting gold in a form that generates fewer domestic economic benefits.
Silver by-products retained in Ghana
Beyond gold refining, the GoldBod CEO said Ghana was also benefiting from the retention of silver produced as a by-product of the refining process.
He said the silver was being retained in the country, helping to generate foreign exchange and provide raw materials for local fabrication businesses.
The development is expected to support industrial activity by making more locally sourced materials available to businesses involved in metal fabrication and related industries.
Mr Gyamfi said these benefits demonstrated the importance of strengthening domestic refining capacity as part of efforts to maximise the returns from Ghana’s gold production.
GoldBod’s broader mandate
GoldBod was established to regulate and promote Ghana’s gold trading sector, particularly the purchase and export of gold from the small-scale mining industry.
Its mandate also includes strengthening foreign exchange generation and ensuring that the country derives greater economic benefits from its gold resources.
The latest update comes as the Board seeks to sustain its gold purchase and export performance while increasing the contribution of the sector to foreign exchange earnings, employment creation and domestic industrial development.
However, the extent to which these gains translate into measurable improvements in employment, industrial output and foreign exchange retention will remain important indicators of the long-term impact of the local refining strategy.
