GoldBod CEO rejects Minority claims of “equalising” losses under gold-for-reserves programme

Sammy Gyamfi, Chief Executive Officer of GoldBod, has dismissed claims that the current government is attempting to “equalise” losses under Ghana’s Gold-for-Reserves (G4R) programme, describing the Minority in Parliament’s accusations as hypocritical and misleading.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Mr Gyamfi strongly pushed back against calls for a parliamentary probe into the reported $214 million loss under the programme, insisting that comparisons drawn by the Minority ignore far larger losses recorded under the previous administration.

“Equalization? Never, no one is equalizing,” he wrote, noting that the facts reflect improved performance under the current arrangement.

Mr Gyamfi highlighted that in 2024, under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) purchased 45 tonnes of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold through aggregators, including the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) and Red Sapphire. At the time, gold prices were below $2,800 per ounce, yet the central bank recorded an audited loss of GHS4.18 billion under the ASM gold programme.

By contrast, he pointed out that in 2025, under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, the BoG has purchased 102 tonnes of ASM gold — more than double the 2024 volume — through PMMC and GoldBod, at a time when gold prices have surged above $4,400 per ounce. Despite this, the reported loss stands at GHS3.3 billion, which he stressed is “unaudited and unverified.”

“The NPP Minority Caucus is now crying foul that the BoG and GoldBod have made a much lesser loss… despite buying a far larger volume of ASM gold at higher prices,” Mr Gyamfi said.

“When you remind them of the much bigger losses when they were in power, they say you are equalising. No, we are not equalising at all. We are simply exposing your hypocrisy and deliberate mischief,” he added.

The remarks come amid growing political controversy over the Gold-for-Reserves programme, which the Bank of Ghana introduced to shore up foreign exchange reserves, ease pressure on the cedi, and reduce reliance on foreign currency purchases.

Mr Gyamfi also questioned the basis for assessing the programme, arguing that it was never intended to generate profit. “Is the Gold-for-Reserves programme a profit-making programme or a forex-generation programme?” he asked.

He explained, “Fact is, it is a forex-generation programme and not a profit-making programme. You don’t assess the success of a non-profit monetary policy initiative based on profit and loss but rather on its broader economic impact.”

He further challenged the Minority to explain why, if profitability were the goal, the BoG under the NPP bought gold at spot prices between 2023 and 2024 and still failed to generate profits over the two years.