The government, through the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), purchased 135.843 metric tonnes of gold valued at approximately US$16.1 billion between January 2025 and May 2026, Parliament has been told.
The disclosure was made by the Minister for Finance in response to a parliamentary question by the Member of Parliament for Oforikrom, Michael Kwesi Aidoo, who sought details on the quantity of gold purchased by GoldBod, its sources of supply, and the amount spent on acquiring the precious mineral.
According to the Minister, 135.221 metric tonnes of the total gold purchased during the period were sourced from the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) sector.
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The Minister explained that GoldBod’s gold supply is derived from two principal channels – the artisanal and small-scale mining sector and large-scale mining companies.
He stated that GoldBod purchases and aggregates gold principally from the ASM sector through licensed buyers operating under the GoldBod licensing regime.
“As at 31st May 2026, GoldBod had licensed a total of 1,184 buyers, comprising two aggregators, 67 self-financing aggregators, 736 Tier 2 buyers and 379 Tier 1 buyers,” the Minister said.
Under the terms of their licences, the buyers are required to purchase gold exclusively from licensed miners for onward sale to GoldBod.
The Finance Minister further disclosed that in 2025 alone, GoldBod cumulatively purchased, aggregated, and exported 104 metric tonnes of ASM gold, generating more than US$10 billion in revenue for the country.
He said the achievement significantly contributed to the appreciation of the Ghana cedi by about 41 per cent in 2025 and boosted Ghana’s foreign reserves from approximately US$8.98 billion in December 2024 to US$13.8 billion by December 2025.
The Minister described GoldBod as a strategic institution central to Ghana’s macroeconomic recovery agenda, particularly in mobilising foreign exchange and tackling gold smuggling.
Citing available reports, including those from Reuters, he noted that Ghana lost an estimated US$11.4 billion between 2019 and 2023 through gold smuggling and fragmented trading channels.
“The GoldBod is gradually reversing that bleeding,” he told Parliament.
He added that the government was deliberately moving away from a system where gold wealth was dispersed, underpriced, and smuggled to one in which gold is transparently aggregated, assayed, refined, and exported to generate foreign exchange and strengthen national reserves.
To improve regulatory compliance and sustainability, the Minister said GoldBod had strengthened collaboration with the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) to combat illegal mining activities.
“GoldBod is not just about buying gold. It is about capturing Ghana’s gold for Ghana’s balance sheet, Ghana’s reserves, and Ghana’s economic sovereignty,” he emphasised.