Ghana has secured a landmark agreement requiring all large-scale mining companies operating within the country to sell 30% of their gold output to the state, the national gold regulator announced on June 25.
The directive, effective July 1, represents a significant escalation in the West African nation's strategy to aggressively build up its foreign exchange reserves using domestic mineral wealth.
Under the agreement brokered by the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), miners will sell 30% of their future production locally in doré (unrefined, raw form). The state purchases will be executed at a 0.55% discount using the Ghana cedi, pegged directly to the central bank's reference rate.
The move supersedes a previous 2022 voluntary gold-purchasing arrangement between the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Chamber of Mines, shifting formal oversight directly to GoldBod.
"The new arrangement has been strategically curated by Government to ensure that Ghana achieves LBMA [London Bullion Market Association] accreditation for at least one local gold refinery by the year 2030," GoldBod said in an official statement.
The state-purchased raw gold will be refined locally to maximize domestic economic value before being shipped to an internationally accredited refinery for melting and stamping. It will ultimately be delivered to the central bank to fortify national assets.
The initiative feeds directly into the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Program (GANRAP). Under this program, the government aims to amass enough foreign currency and gold reserves to cover 15 months of imports by the end of 2028. It also aligns with President Mahama's broader target to eliminate raw mineral exports entirely by 2030.
Full details of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed jointly by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the central bank, and mining executives, are scheduled for public release on Monday, July 29.
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