Ghana

Central bank; buys gold for reserves (Domestic Gold Purchase Programme since 2022; Gold for Reserves); publishes the BoG Reference Rate used for GoldBod prices and FX conversion; receives FX from gold exports

Website

https://www.bog.gov.gh

Tracks illicit financial flows in the gold trade together with GoldBod

Receives, analyses and disseminates financial intelligence and supervises reporting entities under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044) (FIC home page); GoldBod licence conditions require gold licensees to file STRs and CTRs with it.

Website

https://fic.gov.gh

Sole authority to grade, assay, weigh and value gold produced in, brought into or exported from Ghana; sole buyer and seller of gold produced by miners other than large-scale miners and sole exporter of gold produced by mining companies other than large-scale mining companies (Act 1140 s.3(2)); licenses every business or related activity in the gold trading and marketing industry (ss.26-27); implements the Kimberley Process for diamonds (s.77).

Website

https://goldbod.gov.gh

Customs export clearance; income tax, withholding tax, VAT, Growth and Sustainability Levy

Website

https://gra.gov.gh

Calibration certificates for licensees' balances and XRF equipment (at least every 3 months)

Advises the Minister on mineral rights (reconnaissance, prospecting, mining lease, restricted mining lease, small-scale mining licence); inspectorate; register of mineral rights (Act 703 ss.100-103). Before 2025 it listed companies licensed to purchase and export gold.

Website

https://www.mincom.gov.gh

Grants mineral rights, including small-scale mining licences, on Minerals Commission recommendation (Act 703 ss.5, 82); holds the State's right of pre-emption over all minerals (s.7); keeps the power to license a large-scale mining company to purchase and deal in gold (Act 1140 s.75(2)); consulted on Regulations under Act 1140 (s.73).

The "Minister" of Act 1140 (s.74): gives policy directives to the GoldBod Board (s.12), consents to GoldBod borrowing (s.22), makes Regulations under Act 1140 by legislative instrument in consultation with the Minister for Mines (s.73); may permit large-scale miners to keep a foreign-exchange retention account (Act 703 s.30(2)).

Registers and regulates companies and other businesses (Companies Act, object of the Office). The GoldBod licence pages name it as the source of the beneficial ownership profile applicants attach.

The former state gold and diamond buyer, assayer and valuer under P.N.D.C.L. 219. P.N.D.C.L. 219 was repealed by Act 1140 s.75(1)(a); the rights, assets, liabilities, staff and contracts of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company moved to GoldBod (s.78(1)-(3)).

KYC/CDD/EDD and suspicious transaction reporting to the FIC, imposed on gold licensees through GoldBod licence conditions

Citation

Act 1044

Kind

Act

Abolished the 1.5% withholding tax on unprocessed gold from small-scale miners by redefining 'unprocessed precious mineral'

Citation

Act 1129 (EY) / Act 1134 (PwC)

Kind

Act

In force from

2025-04-02

Raised the levy on gold mining companies from 1% to 3% of gross production and extended it to 2028

Citation

Act 1131

Kind

Act

Creates GoldBod (s.1); functions incl. buying large-scale miners' gold under pre-emption (s.3(1)(d)); sole authority to grade, assay, weigh, value gold and to buy/sell/export non-large-scale gold (s.3(2)); licensing (ss.26-37); gold service providers' quarterly reports (s.43); inspection and enforcement (ss.44-49), anti-smuggling (s.49); offences (ss.63-69) and administrative penalty (s.70); Regulations by the Minister for Finance (s.73); definitions (s.74); repeals (s.75); Kimberley Process Act amendment (s.77); transition (s.78).

Citation

Act 1140

Kind

Act

In force from

2025-04-02

Reduced the levy on gold miners back to 1% after the sliding-scale royalty came in

Citation

Act 1166

Kind

Act

In force from

2026-03-31

Minerals vested in the Republic (s.1); Minister's export licence (s.6 - repealed as pertains to gold by Act 1140 s.75); State pre-emption (s.7); records and reports (s.19); royalty (s.25); FX retention (s.30); mining lease rights incl. disposal under the approved marketing plan (s.46(c)); small-scale mining (ss.81-99; s.97 repealed for gold); licence to buy and deal in minerals (s.104 - repealed for gold).

Citation

Act 703 (amendments listed by the Minerals Commission: Act 900 of 2015, Act 995 of 2019 - texts not held)

Kind

Act

In force from

2006-03-31

Book each purchase within 5 minutes with the financing Tier 2 buyer or aggregator; receipt showing exact time; trading hours end 8 p.m.

Kind

Circular

In force from

2026-06-23

Tier 2 buyers get GoldBod trade finance through aggregators under an agreement approved by GoldBod, backed by 10-50% security; old accounts closed by 1 Aug 2026

Kind

Circular

In force from

2026-07-22

Eligibility, capital, fees, 12-month validity, official receipts (weight, assay results, value, seller identity; sequentially numbered), monthly reports, 5-year record keeping, KYC/CDD/EDD and STR/CTR under Act 1044, OECD Due Diligence Guidance, official price, display of licence; GoldBod may vary the conditions by website publication

Kind

Guideline

In force from

2025-04-23

Buyers must pay only the GoldBod published price: LBMA Gold Price AM (published 10:30) or PM (15:00) converted at the Bank of Ghana Reference Rate (regime notice dated 23 June 2026, effective 1 July 2026); ceiling = published price + approved rate-gap bonus for licensed miners + up to GHS 30 of the Tier 2 buyer's commission (threshold notice dated 23 June 2026, effective 24 June 2026); breach of the threshold stated to be an offence under Act 1140 s.63(1)(c) and (2)

Kind

Circular

In force from

2026-07-01

Doré bought by self-financing aggregators for approved offtakers must be refined in Ghana, at a GoldBod-approved or designated refinery, before export

Kind

Circular

In force from

2026-09-01

Offtaker KYC/AML approval, FX remittance converted at BoG reference rate, 24-hour receipt of funds, export request, GoldBod assay and verification

Kind

Circular

In force from

2026-07-13

XRF replaces the water-density method as the standard basis for the purity of all gold doré purchased by GoldBod and its licensed buyers; XRF records kept; where no XRF is available, purchase at a purity discount of at least 0.5% pending GoldBod XRF assessment; aggregators to deploy XRF to their Tier 1/Tier 2 buyers; purity differential between XRF reports within +/-0.05%

Kind

Circular

In force from

2026-09-01

Made by the Minister for Mines under Act 703 s.110 (20 March 2012). Reg 3: a mining-lease holder's licence to export, sell or dispose of gold (Form Two; refining contract and sales and marketing agreement; pre-shipment particulars and sampling by a government-designated laboratory; certified refinery returns within 30 days; monthly and annual returns) and reg 4: licence for other persons to purchase and export - both revoked as pertains to gold by Act 1140 s.75(3). Still in force for gold: reg 8 (records), reg 23 (mining lease holder's monthly report within 15 days after month end, incl. minerals won, quantities sold, revenue, royalties), reg 25 (small-scale licence holder's half-yearly and annual reports).

Citation

L.I. 2173

Kind

Regulation

In force from

2012-03-20

Sliding-scale gold royalty 5-12% by price band for non-small-scale gold; 2% flat for small-scale gold (secondary sources)

Citation

L.I. 2517

Kind

Regulation

In force from

2026-03-10

Constituted PMMC, the former state buyer and exporter of small-scale gold

Citation

P.N.D.C.L. 219

Kind

Act

Repealed on

2025-04-02

VAT; exports zero-rated

Citation

Act 1151

Kind

Act

Customs clearance of exports; origin rules: s.70(3) goods wholly obtained in a country originate there; s.70(5)-(6) the Commissioner-General may require proof of an origin declared, and a person shall provide an invoice declaration of origin or, where applicable, a Certificate of Origin to the proper officer on request.

Citation

Act 891

Kind

Act

Withholding tax schedule (GRA lists 3% on payments for unprocessed precious minerals)

Citation

Act 896

Kind

Act

Amends Act 703; secondary and GRA sources attribute to it the current wording of s.25 (royalty 5% of total revenue). Text not held.

Citation

Act 900

Kind

Act

GoldBod aggregator licence

Held by

GoldBod-licensed aggregator

Issued by

Ghana Gold Board

Valid for

12 calendar months from issue; renewable (renewal window stated as 'not later than three months after' expiry on buyer/aggregator pages)

Fee

Application GHS 50,000; licence cedi equivalent of US$500,000; renewal US$200,000

Held by

Licensed bullion van operator

Issued by

Not stated (a GoldBod Transportation Licence is 'coming soon')

GoldBod licence certificate

Held by

Tier 1 licensed gold buyer

Issued by

Ghana Gold Board

Valid for

12 calendar months from issue; renewable (renewal window stated as 'not later than three months after' expiry on buyer/aggregator pages)

Fee

Application GHS 500; licence GHS 10,000; renewal GHS 7,000

GoldBod licence certificate

Held by

Tier 2 licensed gold buyer

Issued by

Ghana Gold Board

Valid for

12 calendar months from issue; renewable (renewal window stated as 'not later than three months after' expiry on buyer/aggregator pages)

Fee

Application GHS 1,000; licence GHS 20,000; renewal GHS 20,000

Police report; Form 3; beneficial ownership profile

Held by

GoldBod-licensed aggregator

Issued by

Ghana Police Service; Office of the Registrar of Companies

Buying/exporting licence; 63 holders listed on 15 Oct 2024

Held by

GoldBod-licensed aggregator

Issued by

Minister for Mines / Minerals Commission

Valid for

Typically 3 years

Written approval setting operational requirements, SFA obligations and conditions

Held by

Offtaker approved by GoldBod

Issued by

Ghana Gold Board

GoldBod licence certificate

Held by

GoldBod-licensed refinery in Ghana

Issued by

Ghana Gold Board

Valid for

12 calendar months from issue; renewal applications 'not later than three (3) months before expiry' (refinery conditions; the buyer and aggregator pages say 'after' the date of expiry)

Fee

Application US$10,000; licence US$50,000; renewal US$35,000 (cedi equivalents)

GoldBod licence certificate

Held by

Self-financing aggregator (SFA)

Issued by

Ghana Gold Board

Valid for

12 calendar months from issue; renewable (renewal window stated as 'not later than three months after' expiry on buyer/aggregator pages)

Fee

Application US$1,000; licence US$10,000; renewal US$5,000 (cedi equivalents)

Tax Clearance Certificate; SSNIT Clearance Certificate

Held by

Tier 2 licensed gold buyer

Issued by

GRA; SSNIT

Held by

Tier 2 licensed gold buyer

Issued by

Ghana Standards Authority

Valid for

3 months

Held by

Self-financing aggregator (SFA)

Issued by

Ghana Gold Board

Mining lease

Held by

Large-scale mining company (mining lease holder)

Issued by

Minister for Mines on the recommendation of the Minerals Commission

Valid for

Initial term 30 years or less as agreed; renewable for up to 30 years (ss.41(1), 44(1)); not less than 1 nor more than 300 contiguous blocks (s.41(2))

Small-scale mining licence

Held by

Licensed small-scale miner (Ghanaian citizen, individual, group or cooperative)

Issued by

Minister for Mines on the recommendation of the Minerals Commission (application through the district office)

Valid for

Not more than 5 years from the date of issue in the first instance, renewable for a further period the Minister determines (Act 703 s.85)

Rate

Licence fees per category (e.g. aggregator US$500,000 plus GHS 50,000 application); assay and regulatory fees on SFA exports (amounts not published)

Paid by

Licensees; SFAs

Collected by

GoldBod

Rate

3% of gross production

Base

Gross production

Paid by

Gold mining companies

Collected by

GRA

Rate

1% of gross production

Base

Gross production

Paid by

Mining companies

Collected by

GRA

Small-scale gold

Rate

2% flat

Paid by

Small-scale mining licence holder

Collected by

Not confirmed (whether GoldBod or buyers deduct it at purchase is unknown)

Rate

5% of total revenue (GRA; attributed to s.25 as amended by Act 900 of 2015). Act 703 s.25 as enacted: "not more than 6% or less than 3% of the total revenue of minerals obtained by the holder"

Base

Total revenue of minerals obtained

Paid by

Holder of a mining lease, restricted mining lease or small-scale licence

Gold produced under mining leases

Rate

Sliding scale by gold price per ounce, from 5.0% to 12.0% (Schedule, gold, non-small scale mining operations); the bands are in amounts[]

Base

Revenue received from the sale or disposal of a mineral obtained from a mining operation (reg. 3(1)); the market value of gold is the weekly average of the LBMA London PM Fix Price in USD per fine troy ounce for the sales of gold during the month (Schedule)

Paid by

Mining lease holder

Collected by

Commissioner-General (GRA): assessment, collection and recovery of royalties (reg. 7(1))

Rate

1.5%

Base

Payment for unprocessed gold

Paid by

Small-scale miner (withheld by buyer)

Collected by

GRA

Rate

fifteen per cent on the value of a taxable supply or import ; zero per cent on goods entered for export under the Customs Act and exported by the supplier (Second Schedule)

Paid by

the taxable person who makes the supply; on an import of goods, the importer

Collected by

Commissioner-General (GRA), to whom the Tax due for a tax period is paid

Kind

Anti-money laundering

Kind

Cross-border declaration

Kind

Other

Kind

Currency control

Valid from

2026-07-13

Kind

State monopoly

Valid from

2025-04-02

Kind

Other

Valid from

2025-04-02

Kind

Local refining requirement

Valid from

2026-09-01

Kind

Conflict-area due diligence

Kind

Price control

Threshold

Published price + bonus + GHS 30

Valid from

2026-07-01

Kind

State monopoly

Kind

Export ban

Valid from

2025-04-02

Kind

Other

Valid from

2026-09-01

Kind

Other

Valid from

2026-02-16

Formal small-scale gold exports rose sharply after GoldBod's creation; the University of Ghana evaluation credits 39.4 t of newly formalised (previously smuggled) gold in 2025.

Figures: 63.6 t (2024) to 103.0 t (2025); 2025 value US$10.8bn

Bank of Ghana gold holdings grew under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

Figures: 8.77 t (2022) to 30.8 t (Feb 2025)

Small-scale gold (formal and smuggled) has gone mainly to the UAE; large-scale doré to Switzerland; also India and South Africa.

Figures: UAE received ~80 t from Ghana in 2022

GoldBod FX generated under the new financing model.

Figures: Aug 2026: US$1.315bn (US$668.21m to banks, US$646.59m to BoG); Sept 2026 target US$1.4bn

GoldBod claims 170 t exported, worth US$17bn, from Jan 2025 to Aug 2026.

Figures: 170 t / US$17bn

Large-scale mines produced about 100 t in 2025, of which about 10 t was sold locally through GoldBod; the rest was exported by the miners, mainly to LBMA refiners in Switzerland.

Figures: ~100 t produced; ~10 t via GoldBod

[conflict] The GoldBod booking notice of 23 June 2026 says breach "constitutes a violation of Section 64 (1) (c) and (2)" of Act 1140; in the Act s.64 is "Embezzlement, misappropriation or diversion of funds" and has only subsections (1) and (2), with no paragraph (c). The pricing-threshold notice of the same day cites s.63(1)(c) (knowing failure to comply with licence terms), which exists. The model cites the notice without the section and treats a breach as at least a breach of licence conditions [inferred]. Affected: gh.st-07, gh.law-gb-booking-2026.

[conflict] GRA's export-procedures page (official, read in full) requires for "Mineral ore" a "Minerals Commission Permit" and counts unprocessed gold as mineral ore; for gold, Act 1140 s.75(1)(b) repealed the Minister's export licence (Act 703 s.6) and s.3(2)(c) gives GoldBod sole authority to export non-large-scale gold. The model follows Act 1140 (GoldBod export approval, gh.dk-goldbod-export-approval) and treats the GRA table as not updated for gold. Affected: gh.st-21, gh.st-35, gh.st-43, gh.st-44.

[conflict] Act 1140 s.28: a licence may be granted only to a citizen aged 18 or over, or a body "wholly owned by a citizen"; the GoldBod refinery licence page asks each shareholder for "Nationality (attach Ghana Card or passport copy)", a GIPC certificate and a work permit, which only foreign investors need. The model states the law (gh.ctl-citizens-only) and records the page as divergent practice. Affected: gh.ctl-citizens-only, gh.cr-refinery.

[conflict] Royalty on gold. (a) Minerals and Mining Act 2006 (Act 703) s.25, as enacted and held (laws/gh-ghana/minerals-and-mining-act-2006-act-703.md): "the rate of royalty shall not be more than 6% or less than 3% of the total revenue of minerals obtained by the holder". (b) Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2015 (Act 900): GRA ("5% of the total revenue earned from mining operations") and ClientEarth (5%, citing "Act 900, Section 25") - text not held. (c) Minerals and Mining (Royalties) Regulations 2025 (L.I. 2517), in force 9/10 March 2026 (TaxLawGH, Graphic): 5% up to US$1,900/oz rising to 12% above US$4,500/oz for non-small-scale gold, and 2% flat for small-scale gold - text not held. A 7-12% (or 2%) rate set by Regulations cannot be squared with a statutory 3-6% band, nor with a fixed 5% in the Act, unless Act 900 or a later Act left the rate to Regulations; the enabling clause of L.I. 2517 was not seen. The model follows L.I. 2517 for rates from 10 March 2026 (gh.tax-royalty-lsm, gh.tax-royalty-asm, gh.st-46) because it is the later instrument, reportedly completed the 21-sitting-day laying period, and is what GRA-facing sources describe as applied; the 5% (Act 900) is kept as the superseded version (gh.tax-royalty-flat); each at the level its evidence allows. Settled by reading Act 900 and the gazetted L.I. 2517 (gh.gap-act-900, gh.gap-li-2517). Affected: gh.tax-royalty-lsm, gh.tax-royalty-flat, gh.tax-royalty-asm, gh.st-46, gh.law-li-2517, gh.law-act-900.

[conflict] Self-financing aggregator: the SFA licence page defines the licence as purchase and aggregation "for onward supply to the GoldBod with financing from its own financing sources"; GoldBod's notice of 13 July 2026 (stated to form part of SFA licence conditions) sets a procedure for SFAs to sell to, and export for, GoldBod-approved offtakers, and the 24 Aug 2026 notice requires those exports to be refined first. The model follows the later notices (gh.proc-sfa-export). Affected: gh.ac-sfa, gh.cr-sfa, gh.proc-sfa-export.

[conflict] Small-scale mining licence term: Act 703 s.85 - "not more than five years from the date of issue in the first instance", renewable for a period the Minister determines; the Minerals Commission mineral-rights page - "5 years, renewable"; the Commission's licence-procedure page - "You need to renew your license every three (3) years". The model follows the Act. Affected: gh.cr-ssml.

[conflict] Withholding tax on small-scale gold. The GRA withholding-tax page (official, read in full, laws/gh-ghana/gra-withholding-tax.md) lists 3% on "Payments for unprocessed precious minerals"; EY, PwC and GNA report that the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2025 removed small-scale gold from that definition (abolishing a 1.5% rate) from 2 April 2025. The model follows the 2025 amendment (later law, two independent professional sources) and treats the GRA page as not updated; the amendment text is not held (the GRA-hosted "Amendments to the Income Tax 2015 Act 896 (updated)" PDF is queued). Affected: gh.tax-wht-asm-gold, gh.law-act-896, gh.law-act-1129.

Small-scale mining is reserved for citizens and GoldBod licences for citizen-owned firms, yet foreign nationals (notably Chinese) and local aggregators informally finance equipment and operations. GoldBod has validated seizures against foreign nationals (2026).

The local-refining mandate sends SFA doré to Ghanaian refineries (Gold Coast Refinery, Royal Ghana Gold, others), none of which holds LBMA Good Delivery status. Their output is likely re-refined in Switzerland, Dubai or South Africa.

GoldBod and the Chamber of Mines disagree on how much of large-scale miners' export proceeds return to Ghana.

Figures: GoldBod 20% vs Chamber ~70% (70.8% of US$4.99bn in 2024)

Mirror-trade data show large undeclared exports before GoldBod: gold hand-carried to the UAE on commercial flights, and overland via Togo (and anecdotally Burkina Faso and Mali).

Figures: 229 t (US$11.4bn) 2019-2023; ~34 t undeclared ASM output in 2023; ~60 t in 2022

GoldBod's doré purchases were financed through Bank of Ghana bills, and the doré was sold abroad at a loss. Losses (borne by BoG) were about US$400m in 2024 and over US$1.7bn in 2025, including a ~17% loss on doré sold and FX losses from cedi appreciation.

Figures: >US$1.7bn (2025)