The Ministry of Finance and four other institutions have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the sale of 30 per cent of gold output from large-scale mining companies*under the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP), approved by Parliament.
The other signatories are the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
The agreement was signed by the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson; the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah; the Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Ken Ashigbey; the Chief Executive Officer of GoldBod, Mr Sammy Gyamfi; and a representative of the central bank.
GANRAP seeks to increase Ghana’s international reserves to the equivalent of 15 months of import cover by 2028, while reducing the country’s reliance on costly external borrowing through a gold-backed domestic reserve accumulation model.
Speaking at the signing yesterday, Dr Forson said the agreement would facilitate the implementation of the policy under which large-scale mining companies would sell 30 per cent of their gold output to the central bank and GoldBod for local processing and refining.
He said the gold processed and refined locally would subsequently be transferred to the central bank for reserve accumulation.
“It is my honour to inform Ghanaians and all our stakeholders that government has arrived at an understanding with the miners and the Chamber of Mines to implement the GANRAP agreement,” Dr Forson said.
According to him, the arrangement would also attract investment into local gold refineries and support the development of the domestic gold-processing industry.
He cited Burkina Faso and Mali as examples of countries that had taken steps to increase local processing and value addition in the gold industry.
Mr Buah commended the mining companies, represented by the Ghana Chamber of Mines, for supporting the policy and pledged his Ministry’s cooperation with the Chamber to ensure its successful implementation.
He also urged the Chamber to be accommodating in addressing issues that might arise during implementation, noting that GANRAP was a new policy.
The Governor of the BoG, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, described the 30 per cent gold sale under the policy as a meaningful contribution to national development.
He pledged the central bank’s commitment to working with all stakeholders to implement the policy.
For his part, Dr Ashigbey said a solid and stable macroeconomic environment was essential to the operations of mining companies and, therefore, expressed support for the objectives of GANRAP.
He also commended the government’s plan to establish **LBMA-standard refineries** in the country, noting that the Chamber had already taken steps towards that objective before the policy was announced.
However, Dr Ashigbey stressed the need for an incentive-based approach to ensure the long-term sustainability of GANRAP.
“If you look at the way GANRAP has been shaped, if we have some incentives like you have in Tanzania, India and South Africa, where for those who decide to process and refine their gold locally, you will get some incentive, we could also do the same and ensure that GANRAP becomes a hub for refinery in the West Africa sub-region,” he said.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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