Ghana’s experiment with centralised gold trading is attracting attention across Africa, with the Ghana Gold Board saying seven countries have studied elements of its model as governments search for ways to formalise mining, curb illicit trade and retain more value from their mineral resources.
The interest places GoldBod at the centre of a wider debate over resource sovereignty. Governments are increasingly looking beyond mine ownership and royalties to who buys minerals, manages exports, captures foreign exchange and controls more of the value chain.
Seven countries turn to Ghana
According to GoldBod, institutions or official delegations from Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Sudan and Namibia have engaged the Board over the past 12 months.
Their areas of interest differ.
Sierra Leone examined mineral revenue management, while Mozambique focused on gold trading, certification and regulation. Tanzanian officials studied Ghana’s purchasing arrangements, and Zimbabwe showed interest in formalising artisanal and small-scale mining.
Zambia examined Ghana’s gold-trading structure, while Sudan and Namibia studied aspects of resource management, licensing, purchasing and regulatory standardisation.
The countries are therefore not necessarily preparing to reproduce GoldBod wholesale. Rather, they are examining parts of Ghana’s system that could potentially be adapted to their own mining industries and regulatory frameworks.
GoldBod was established under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025, as part of Accra’s restructuring of the precious-minerals trade.
The law gives the Board authority to grade, assay, weigh and value gold produced in or exported from Ghana. It also gives GoldBod exclusive authority over the purchase, sale and export of gold produced outside the large-scale mining sector.
GoldBod says the impact has been reflected in the amount of artisanal and small-scale mining gold entering formal export channels.
According to the Board, exports from the sector increased from about 63 tonnes in 2024 to 104 tonnes in 2025, generating approximately $10.8bn.
The increase meant artisanal and small-scale miners overtook Ghana’s large-scale producers in export volume for the first time.
Africa Briefing previously reported that Ghana’s artisanal gold output could surpass 104 tonnes in 2026, highlighting the growing importance of the sector to foreign-exchange generation.
Ghana is also attempting to move further along the value chain.
From September 1, 2026, GoldBod required Self-Financing Aggregators to ensure gold doré purchased under arrangements with approved offtakers is refined in Ghana before export.
The Board said the measure was intended to promote local refining and value addition while improving regulatory oversight.
Africa Briefing examined the policy when Ghana introduced mandatory local refining for specified gold doré exports.
GoldBod has also made X-Ray Fluorescence assay mandatory for gold purchases, replacing the water-density method as the definitive means of determining purity.
Zambia offers one of the clearest examples of how elements of Ghana’s approach could influence policy elsewhere.
A high-level Zambian delegation visited GoldBod on July 16, 2026, as the country explored ways of developing a structured gold-trading system following the identification of commercially viable deposits.
Africa Briefing has reported on Zambia’s drive to formalise a potentially $1.8bn gold economy, including its interest in Ghana’s framework.
But transferring the model will not necessarily be straightforward.
Mining industries vary widely. Tanzania already has a substantial gold sector, Zambia remains predominantly associated with copper, while Sudan operates under markedly different political, security and institutional conditions.
Any adaptation would therefore depend on domestic production structures, regulatory capacity, financing and the ability of official buyers to compete with informal trading networks.
How Ghana finances its gold purchases is becoming another important test.
GoldBod introduced a collaborative financing model in August 2026 following consultations involving the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Ghana, commercial banks and other market participants.
The Board reported that the system generated $1.315bn in foreign exchange during August.
Of that amount, $668.21m was sold to commercial banks through spot sales and funded-forward arrangements, while $646.59m was made available to the Bank of Ghana for reserve accumulation.
GoldBod subsequently projected another $1.4bn in foreign-exchange generation for September.
The institution has also reported an IMF assessment that put losses under the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme at more than $1.7bn in 2025.
GoldBod Chief Executive Sammy Gyamfi has disputed attempts to attribute those losses to the Board, saying GoldBod acted as a buying agent and was not responsible for the central bank’s selling prices or offtake arrangements.
GoldBod says its own statutory trading model began in March 2026.
Traceability presents another challenge.
The Board announced a pilot involving about 600 artisanal and small-scale mining operations as part of plans to identify the origin of gold entering the formal refining and export system.
GoldBod continues to target smuggling and hoarding despite the increase in formal exports.
