, accusing the regulator of unfair and non-transparent pricing practices in the local gold market.){kind=link}
Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah, has taken a swipe at the Ghana Gold Board (Goldbod), accusing the regulator of unfair and non-transparent pricing practices in the local gold market.
According to him, Goldbod’s decision to use the interbank exchange rate as the basis for valuing gold on a daily basis is a rip-off to Ghanaian miners. He argued that no commodity in Ghana is priced using the interbank rate for trade purposes, not even government’s payments for foreign currency-denominated goods and services.
“So why gold?” the legislator queried, describing the practice as economically illogical and exploitative.
Goldbod has faced mounting public scrutiny after its Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, announced that the agency would henceforth transact only at interbank forex rates. This followed revelations that the agency had been trading gold at the black market rate of over GH¢12 to the US dollar, instead of the Bank of Ghana’s official rate of GH¢10.30.
In his defense, Mr. Gyamfi explained that gold purchases in Ghana had historically been pegged to the black market rate due to intense competition from smugglers. He said that when he assumed office in January 2025, gold was being bought at nearly GH¢16 to the dollar, a practice that contributed to huge forex losses for the Bank of Ghana, the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), and other legitimate traders.
“By April 2025, Goldbod had succeeded in bringing the local buying rate down to interbank levels. But in late June, extreme competition from smugglers and hoarders forced us to revert to black market levels temporarily,” Mr. Gyamfi explained.
But MP Patrick Boamah insists the agency’s approach is flawed, questioning why Goldbod now issues two different prices for gold purchases daily.
“This practice defies economic logic and reflects a lack of transparency on the part of both Goldbod and government under the JDM ‘Reset’ administration,” he said in a statement. “Which commodity in the same market, for the same players, is sold at dual prices? If Goldbod can pay ‘bonuses’ for gold, why not declare and pay the proper price outright? Goldbod and government must come clean.”