Ghana tightens gold exports in push to keep more value at home

The move is part of a broader effort to develop Ghana’s gold industry beyond raw exports.

Ghana’s Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Baah Forson and GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi inspect Gold Coast Refinery with other officials [Courtesy of Ghana GoldBod]

Accra, Ghana – Ghana is requiring certain gold exporters to refine gold dore locally before it can be shipped abroad, in a move aimed at keeping more of the value generated by the country’s gold industry at home.

Effective September 1, the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) barred Self-Financing Aggregators (SFAs) from exporting gold dore purchased under arrangements with approved offtakers unless it is first refined in Ghana.

Dore is semi-refined gold that requires further processing before it can be turned into bullion.

The directive, issued by GoldBod’s Compliance Directorate on August 24, implements the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), which established GoldBod as the authority overseeing the buying, selling, assaying, refining and export of gold in Ghana.

A push for local value

For Clement Edem Asare Morjah, chief executive of United Gold International Limited, a licensed SFA, the policy marks a significant change in how Ghana handles its most valuable natural resource.

“For the first time since independence, we have a government determined to make sure Ghana benefits from our biggest resource, gold,” he said.

Morjah said refining gold locally could allow Ghanaian companies to capture margins that have historically gone to overseas processors.

Gold bars at a refinery in Ghana, as the country moves to expand local processing and retain more value from its gold exports [Courtesy of Ghana GoldBod]

“In the entire value chain between refining and raw processed gold, the cost in between is a lot of margins. Historically, we have lost this to the outside world for decades. This is the first time deliberate government policy is trying to address this anomaly,” Morjah said.

But he added the short notice had created challenges for companies with existing contracts, which may now have to be amended.

GoldBod had required SFAs to amend existing offtake agreements by August 31. Export applications would only be processed after GoldBod confirms that the gold has been refined locally, applicable charges have been settled and other regulatory requirements have been met.

Building a gold industry

Prince Kwame Minkah, GoldBod’s media relations officer, said the policy was intended to ensure Ghana captured more of the economic benefits from its gold.

“Ghana is one of the top gold-producing countries in the world, so we need to truly maximise national benefits,” he said. “Value addition is key.”

He said the policy was consistent with President John Mahama’s vision that, by 2030, Ghana’s natural resources should be exported with a certain level of value addition.

“The value addition is what will culminate in the building of a gold industry in Ghana,” Minkah said.

Local refining, he added, could create jobs, reduce the amount of money paid overseas for processing and provide refined gold for industries such as jewellery manufacturing.

GoldBod also plans to develop a gold village modelled on Dubai’s Gold Souk, he said.

Ghana’s refining capacity

Ghana has four licensed gold refineries, including Gold Coast Refinery and Royal Ghana Gold Refinery.

Gold Coast Refinery, which opened in 2016, has a stated capacity of up to two tonnes a week, while Royal Ghana Gold Refinery, commissioned in August 2024, has a daily capacity of 400 kilogrammes (882 pounds).

Ghana’s Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, centre, and GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi, second right, hold refined gold bars during a visit to Gold Coast Refinery [Courtesy of Ghana GoldBod]

GoldBod has supply agreements with both refineries. Under its agreement with Gold Coast Refinery, GoldBod supplies at least one metric tonne of gold a week.

Gold Coast Refinery is also in partnership with South Africa’s Rand Refinery.

Minkah said GoldBod was building what he described as “the largest refinery on the African continent” in Ghana.

A booming gold sector

Ghana produced nearly six million ounces, or about 185 tonnes, of gold in 2025, with small-scale mining accounting for about 3.1 million ounces (96 tonnes), up from 1.9 million ounces (59 tonnes) the previous year.

Gold export earnings reached about $20bn in 2025, nearly double the $10.3bn recorded in 2024, while total merchandise exports stood at about $31.1bn.

The surge has increased the government’s focus on bringing more of the gold value chain under domestic control.

George Darkwa, a gold and mineral expert, said the refining requirement was a positive development for the industry.

“It is a positive move that will enhance value retention and formalisation,” he said, urging foreign investors to support Ghana’s efforts to develop its domestic gold industry.

GoldBod said exporting, or attempting to export, unrefined dore in breach of the new requirements would violate licence conditions.

Possible sanctions include the refusal or suspension of export approvals, suspension or revocation of licences, administrative penalties and other enforcement measures.

Gold undergoes processing at a refinery in Ghana, where raw dore is transformed into a more refined form [Courtesy of Ghana GoldBod]

The board said the directive was intended to strengthen regulation while retaining more domestic value through refining and other forms of value addition.

For Morjah, the benefits could eventually extend beyond the companies directly affected by the new rule.

Once refined, gold becomes bullion that can meet recognised standards, he said, making its quality and value more predictable.

“Give it time,” Morjah said. “Everybody will understand the benefit. When you’re doing business, you don’t only think about your individual benefit as a company. You must think about the body corporate as a nation.”

此举是加纳为发展黄金产业，使其不再仅仅局限于黄金原料出口而做出的更广泛努力的一部分。

加纳财政部长卡西尔·阿托·巴赫·福森和加纳黄金委员会首席执行官萨米·吉亚姆菲与其他官员一同视察了黄金海岸炼油厂。[图片由加纳黄金委员会提供]

加纳阿克拉——加纳要求某些黄金出口商在将金条运往国外之前，先在当地进行提炼，此举旨在将该国黄金产业创造的更多价值留在国内。

自 9 月 1 日起，加纳黄金委员会 (GoldBod) 禁止自筹资金聚合商 (SFA) 出口根据与经批准的承购商的协议购买的金条，除非这些金条首先在加纳进行提炼。

金条是半精炼黄金，需要进一步加工才能制成金条。

该指令由 GoldBod 合规局于 8 月 24 日发布，旨在执行 2025 年加纳黄金委员会法案（第 1140 号法案），该法案设立了 GoldBod，作为加纳黄金买卖、化验、精炼和出口的监管机构。

推动本地价值

对于获得许可的SFA公司United Gold International Limited的首席执行官Clement Edem Asare Morjah来说，这项政策标志着加纳在处理其最有价值的自然资源方面发生了重大变化。

他说：“自独立以来，我们第一次拥有了一个决心确保加纳从我们最大的资源——黄金中受益的政府。”

莫尔贾表示，在当地提炼黄金可以让加纳公司获得以往流向海外加工商的利润。

加纳一家精炼厂的金条，该国正努力扩大本地加工规模，以保留黄金出口的更多价值。[图片由加纳黄金委员会提供]

“从精炼到粗加工黄金的整个价值链中，中间环节的成本利润空间非常大。几十年来，我们一直将这些利润拱手让给外部世界。这是政府首次有意识地制定政策来解决这个问题，”莫尔贾说道。

但他补充说，通知时间短给已有合同的公司带来了挑战，这些合同现在可能不得不进行修改。

GoldBod 要求各州黄金协会 (SFA) 在 8 月 31 日前修改现有的承购协议。出口申请只有在 GoldBod 确认黄金已在当地精炼、适用费用已结清且其他监管要求已满足后才会进行处理。

建设黄金产业

黄金委员会媒体关系官员夸梅·明卡王子表示，这项政策旨在确保加纳从其黄金产品中获得更多经济利益。

“加纳是世界主要黄金生产国之一，因此我们需要真正实现国家利益最大化，”他说道。“增值是关键。”

他表示，这项政策与约翰·马哈马总统的愿景相一致，即到 2030 年，加纳的自然资源应该以一定的附加值出口。

“增值最终将促成加纳黄金产业的建立，”明卡说道。

他补充说，本地提炼可以创造就业机会，减少支付给海外加工的费用，并为珠宝制造等行业提供精炼黄金。

他还表示，GoldBod计划开发一个以迪拜黄金市场为蓝本的黄金村。

加纳的炼油能力

加纳有四家获得许可的黄金精炼厂，包括黄金海岸精炼厂和皇家加纳黄金精炼厂。

黄金海岸精炼厂于 2016 年开业，其宣称的产能为每周两吨；而皇家加纳黄金精炼厂于 2024 年 8 月投产，日产能为 400 公斤（882 磅）。

加纳财政部长卡西尔·阿托·巴赫·福森（中）和加纳黄金委员会首席执行官萨米·吉亚姆菲（右二）在参观黄金海岸精炼厂时手持精炼金条。[图片由加纳黄金委员会提供]

GoldBod与这两家炼金厂都签订了供货协议。根据与黄金海岸炼金厂的协议，GoldBod每周至少供应一公吨黄金。

黄金海岸炼油厂还与南非兰德炼油厂建立了合作关系。

明卡表示，GoldBod 正在加纳建造他所说的“非洲大陆最大的炼油厂”。

蓬勃发展的黄金行业

2025年，加纳黄金产量接近600万盎司（约185吨），其中小规模采矿产量约为310万盎司（96吨），高于上一年的190万盎司（59吨）。

2025 年黄金出口收入将达到约 200 亿美元，几乎是 2024 年记录的 103 亿美元的两倍，而商品出口总额约为 311 亿美元。

这一激增促使政府更加重视将黄金价值链的更多环节纳入国内控制。

黄金和矿产专家乔治·达克瓦表示，精炼要求对该行业来说是一个积极的发展。

他表示：“这是一个积极的举措，将有助于提升价值保值和规范化进程。”他敦促外国投资者支持加纳发展国内黄金产业的努力。

GoldBod表示，违反新规定出口或试图出口未精炼的金条将违反许可证条件。

可能的制裁措施包括拒绝或暂停出口许可、暂停或撤销许可证、行政处罚和其他强制措施。

在加纳的一家精炼厂，黄金正在接受加工，原金被提炼成更精炼的形式。[图片由加纳黄金委员会提供]

董事会表示，该指令旨在加强监管，同时通过炼油和其他形式的增值来保留更多的国内价值。

对于 Morjah 而言，新规带来的好处最终可能会惠及受其直接影响的公司之外的其他公司。

他说，黄金经过提炼后，就成为符合公认标准的金条，使其质量和价值更可预测。

“给它点时间，”莫尔贾说。“大家都会明白其中的好处。做生意的时候，你不能只考虑公司自身的利益，还必须从整个公司作为一个整体的角度来考虑。”