The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has sold approximately US$125 million to commercial banks in its maiden foreign exchange auction under its new spot FX sales and intermediation framework, marking a significant shift in how Ghana channels its gold-generated dollars into the formal banking system.
The auction, conducted on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, forms part of GoldBod’s plan to provide commercial banks with more predictable and transparent access to US dollars through its GoldBod GoFX platform.
$1bn FX Sales to Banks
GoldBod earlier announced plans to sell US1.5 billion in total. Of this amount, US500 million will be advanced to the Bank of Ghana to support the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves.
The October programme marks the formal exit of the Bank of Ghana from FX intermediation, with GoldBod assuming full responsibility for the process. This transition followed a costly episode for the central bank. The International Monetary Fund estimates that the Bank of Ghana recorded more than $1.7 billion in losses — equivalent to about 1.5% of GDP — from the domestic gold-purchase programme in 2025, reflecting service and assay fees, discounts to off-takers and exchange-rate effects. GoldBod subsequently assumed responsibility for the programme’s operations and costs, allowing Ghana to continue capturing foreign currency from gold exports without leaving the central bank carrying the same quasi-fiscal exposure.
Twice-Weekly FX Sales Under New Framework
Under the new framework, GoldBod will conduct foreign exchange sales twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Participating banks will submit their requests during a designated sales window. Where demand exceeds the available FX tranche, GoldBod said allocations will be made on a pro-rata basis to ensure a transparent and equitable distribution of the available foreign exchange.
Transactions will be settled on the same day, with the US dollar leg completed by 3:00pm and the Ghana cedi leg completed by 4:00pm.
Measures to Prevent Speculation
GoldBod said participating banks will be required to declare that their requests are backed by actual unmet foreign exchange demand or evidence of a short position. The banks will also be required to comply with Bank of Ghana regulations and directives.
“They will also have to certify that their requests represent genuine unmet customer demand or an existing foreign-currency short position, a safeguard intended to discourage speculative accumulation of dollars,” according to the framework details.
The measures are intended to ensure that the facility responds to genuine market demand and is not used for speculative purposes.
BoG to Provide Regulatory Oversight
The programme will operate under the regulatory oversight of the Bank of Ghana. GoldBod said the central bank will have real-time access to the GoldBod GoFX platform, and GoldBod will submit transaction reports to the Bank of Ghana after each sale.
The GoFX platform provides electronic submission and allocation processing, as well as time-stamping, transaction histories and audit trails. According to GoldBod, these features are designed to strengthen transparency, accountability and post-trade verification.
Background: From PMMC to GoldBod
The Ghana Gold Board was established in early 2025 under Act 1140 to centralise Ghana’s gold trade, particularly from the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector. Its mandate is wide: buy, assay, grade, export, license, and enforce traceability. The new institution took over the functions of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), which had operated since 1963.
President John Dramani Mahama initiated the establishment of GoldBod, which falls under the Ministry of Finance. Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson described GoldBod as “a vehicle for achieving currency stability through the structured purchasing and management of Ghana’s gold resources”.
The Board has reached landmark agreements with the Ghana Chamber of Mines to buy 30% of the gold output of all large-scale mining companies in Ghana, effective July 1, 2026. It is also implementing strategies to purchase a minimum of 2.45 tonnes of ASM gold weekly through official channels.
September Performance Exceeds Targets
GoldBod’s September 2026 performance demonstrated the scale of its operations. The Board generated US1.4 billion by US$471 million. The September performance represented 134 percent of GoldBod’s target for the month.
Of that amount, US700 million target — while a further US700 million to support the accumulation of the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
The latest figures represent an increase from August, when GoldBod generated US668.21 million was sold to commercial banks, while US$646.59 million was made available to the Bank of Ghana for reserve accumulation under the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP).
Gold’s Dominance in Ghana’s Economy
The significance of GoldBod’s operations is underscored by gold’s outsized role in Ghana’s economy. Gold exports rose from US14.86 billion in the same period of 2026. In the second quarter of 2026, gold bullion earned GH₵78.4 billion, or 72.3% of all exports — meaning close to three of every four cedis Ghana earned from exports came from gold.
Ghana’s total export earnings hit a record US8.8 billion, compared with US$7.6 billion in August 2025.
Ghana’s central bank gold reserves climbed to 37.06 tonnes by the end of September 2025, a 21.3% increase from 30.53 tonnes in January. Before the recent spike, the central bank in 2023 could only boast 8.78 tonnes of gold reserves.
Legal Challenges and Political Debate
GoldBod’s expanded role in the foreign exchange market has not been without controversy. Former Finance Minister and New Patriotic Party member Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has questioned whether the GoldBod Act gives the institution the legal authority to sell and auction foreign currency.
“GoldBod now appears to be operating a forex bureau. They are running foreign exchange sales and foreign exchange auctions. But the Ghana Gold Board Act gives it no such mandate,” Dr. Amin Adam said at a press briefing on September 1, 2026.
He called on the Bank of Ghana to explain the legal basis for GoldBod’s forex operations and clarify whether the institution has been licensed to undertake such transactions.
The Executive Secretary to the CEO of GoldBod, Annan Perry, dismissed claims by the Minority that the institution is unlawfully engaging in foreign exchange trading.
Market Impact and Outlook
GoldBod has rapidly become an important supplier of foreign currency to Ghana’s financial system. The agency generated about US1.5 billion, with US500 million earmarked for reserve accumulation.
The shift in how gold-generated dollars reach the market represents a significant change in Ghana’s foreign exchange architecture. Rather than the Bank of Ghana routinely standing between gold-generated dollar inflows and lenders, GoldBod will intermediate those flows directly while the central bank retains regulatory oversight.
For Ghana’s commercial banks, the importance of the arrangement lies not simply in the volume of dollars being supplied, but in the emergence of GoldBod as a significant source of foreign exchange through the formal market. For the wider economy, the model demonstrates how Ghana’s gold resources can be leveraged to generate foreign exchange while simultaneously supporting the banking system and national reserve accumulation.
With GoldBod now playing a bigger role in supplying dollars to the financial system and supporting Ghana’s reserves, the question that remains is whether these record foreign exchange inflows can translate into a stronger cedi, lower pressure on businesses and ultimately a meaningful improvement in the cost of living for Ghanaians.
