Effective September 1,2026, Ghana will close the curtain on the exportation of unrefined gold.
The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has announced that local companies will take over all refinement processes by next month before exportation.
The directive is in accordance with the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140) which defines its mandate to regulate the purchase, sale, refining, value addition and export of gold in Ghana.
A statement from GoldBod’s Compliance Directorate said every Self-Financing Aggregator shall ensure that all gold doré purchased under any arrangement with an approved Offtaker is refined in Ghana before export.
Accordingly, no gold doré shall be exported in its unrefined state; and every offtake agreement or commercial arrangement entered into between an SFA and an approved Offtaker shall expressly provide for the mandatory refining of all gold doré in Ghana prior to export.
“…no request for the export of gold doré shall be approved by the GoldBod unless
the gold has first been refined locally in accordance with this Notice,” the GoldBod cautioned.
All refining shall be undertaken only at a refinery approved or designated by the GoldBod in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.
“The GoldBod reserves the right
to determine the refinery at which any gold shall be refined and to issue additional operational directives governing the refining process,” the statement added.
With the new guidelines, the cost of refining gold shall be borne by the Self-Financing Aggregator (SFA) or the approved Offtaker in accordance with their commercial arrangements and shall be payable before the export of the refined gold.
Amendment of Existing Offtake Arrangements
Under the directive, every Self-Financing Aggregator shall, on or before 31st August 2026, amend all existing
offtake agreements and related commercial arrangements with approved Offtakers to incorporate the mandatory local refining requirement.
“Evidence of such amendment may be requested by the GoldBod at any time,” the GoldBod maintained.
Export Approval
With effect from 1st September 2026, the GoldBod shall process export requests for gold doré only after confirming that
the gold has been refined in Ghana and the applicable refining charges been paid or otherwise settled in accordance with GoldBod’s new guidelines, and all applicable assay, regulatory and export requirements have complied with as well as all other conditions governing the export.
Compliance
The GoldBod expects all Self-Financing Aggregators to comply with the new directive as it forms part of the terms and conditions of their licences.
“Failure to comply with this directive, including the export or attempted export of unrefined gold doré contrary to this Notice, shall constitute a breach
of the conditions of an SFA licence and may result in regulatory action by the GoldBod, including the refusal or suspension of export approvals, suspension or revocation of
licences, administrative sanctions and/or any other enforcement action permitted under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), applicable regulations and GoldBod directives,” the regulator warned.
Africa’s New Gold Regime
In recent months, Guinea, Tanzania, Mali and Burkina Faso have all introduced similar measures to boost local revenue.
Ghana is Africa’s largest gold producer, and has been steadily increasing government control over the rare mineral.
Since the inception of GoldBod last year under President John Mahama’s administration, its activities has boosted official output and reduced foreign currency leakage.
Prince Kwame Minkah, GoldBod’s Media Relations Officer, believes the new measures will boost revenue for the country, stabilise the Ghanaian currency and create more jobs for the youth in the rare earth minerals value chain.
“The step right now is value addition. So, instead of exporting the dorè and allow refining, certification as well as other value generating activity to happen elsewhere, we want it to happen right here in Ghana,” he told Canadian-based RT News.
Source: Myxyzonline.com
