Ghana's Gold Program Falters Amid Record Prices
Ghana's gold purchase program has come under fire from former Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, who argues that the country failed to capitalize on a record-breaking period for gold prices.
In a press conference, Dr. Adam pointed out that gold prices rose by 62.9% in 2025, reaching an average of $3,441 per ounce. Despite this, Ghana's program lost around 17% of the value of raw gold sold to foreign buyers.
The losses were attributed to various factors, including differences in exchange rates and transaction-related fees. Dr. Adam noted that the Bank of Ghana advanced cedis at the official interbank rate, while GoldBod paid miners at higher rates available at forex bureaux, resulting in a loss for the central bank.
The program also incurred a 0.5% service fee and 0.258% assay fee on gold transactions, with Dr. Adam suggesting that these costs were unnecessarily high. He stated that the IMF estimated these combined costs to be around 14.5% of the program's value in 2025.
Dr. Adam has called for a full parliamentary inquiry into the program, expressing concern over how Ghana could incur significant losses during a period of record gold price growth.