The Bank of Ghana will hand over the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold trading segment to the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), the agency established to regulate and centralise gold trading activities after the bank decided to exit the small-scale gold trading business under its Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP)
GoldBod will be handling the purchases and trading, effective 1 January 2026, this means the central bank will no longer be directly involved in the buying and selling of gold from artisanal and small-scale miners.
This move will allow the Bank of Ghana to focus on its core functions, such as monetary policy, inflation targeting and price stability, rather than commodity trading operations.
Currently the Bank of Ghana has been buying gold from small-scale miners and selling it abroad, contributing to foreign exchange reserves. However, that role will now shift entirely to GoldBod from January 2026.
The Bank of Ghana will still maintain the overall Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, but its involvement will be primarily *regulatory or strategic* rather than operational in the artisanal small-scale segment.
This policy shift comes amid broader scrutiny of the gold-for-reserves programme, including debate over profitability and risk.
About the Author
