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Parliament on Friday approved the Ghana Gold Board Bill 2025, creating the Gold Board to regulate the gold sector, improve transparency, and increase foreign exchange earnings.
The Gold Board is expected to manage the acquisition, sale, and export of gold and ensure that a larger share of gold revenue remained in the country.
The bill is also to encourage foreign financiers in small-scale mining in the country and reduce losses of gold revenue to overseas markets.
Despite the minority’s opposition to the bill on accounts of its potential to promote illegal mining in the country, the majority went ahead to pass it.
Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, described the bill as a historic intervention to address long-standing issues in the extractive sector.
He said despite being rich in gold, Ghana continued to struggle financially because foreign players controlled a large portion of the industry.
“We are sitting on gold, yet we are starving,” he said, stressing how external financiers pre-finance small-scale miners and take the gold abroad without returning the revenue.
He explained that the new Gold Board would replace the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), and take on additional responsibilities to better regulate the gold trade.
“We are not creating a new institution; we are transforming an existing one to ensure we benefit fully from our resources,” he clarified.
The majority leader also indicated that the bill introduces a system where the Gold Board would act as the sole buyer of gold from small-scale miners.
This move, he emphasized, was expected to curb illegal transactions and bring in much-needed foreign currency to stabilise the economy.
He acknowledged concerns raised by the minority and assured Parliament that the bill had undergone extensive amendments to address potential risks.
Moreover, the Majority Leader noted that the legislation aligned with other government initiatives, such as the decentralisation of land access for small-scale miners and the removal of withholding tax on gold sales.
Mr Ayariga commended members from both sides of the house for their contributions, saying “We now have a very good bill, and we are confident it will stand the test of time.”
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
