The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) is strengthening local value addition in the gold sector, with between 80 and 90 per cent of the gold it purchases and exports now refined in Ghana, its Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, has disclosed.
He said the development was helping to create employment opportunities, retain revenue within the domestic economy and support the growth of local industries.
Speaking before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, October 13, Mr Gyamfi said the shift towards local refining represented a significant departure from previous practices, under which much of the country’s gold was exported without being refined locally.
He explained that the increased use of domestic refineries was helping Ghana capture more economic benefits from its mineral resources instead of allowing such opportunities to be realised in foreign destinations.
“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.
According to him, the refineries operate around the clock and employ Ghanaians, particularly young people, while ensuring that refining fees that would otherwise be paid abroad remain in the country.
Mr Gyamfi added that the benefits extended beyond gold refining, as silver recovered during the process was also being retained locally to generate foreign exchange and provide raw materials for Ghana’s fabrication industry.
He said the approach was helping to strengthen domestic industrial activity, create jobs and increase the economic returns from the country’s gold resources, while advancing GoldBod’s broader mandate of supporting foreign exchange generation and the regulation of Ghana’s gold trading sector.