A dedicated anti-smuggling taskforce established by the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has significantly curtailed illegal gold trading activities across the country, helping to channel artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold exports through formal systems and strengthening foreign exchange inflows into the national economy.
According to GoldBod’s 2025 audited financial report, the intervention has played a critical role in reducing gold smuggling, plugging revenue leakages and improving regulatory compliance across Ghana’s gold value chain.
The Board disclosed that almost all ASM gold exports are now being routed through formal export channels, ensuring full foreign exchange repatriation and enhancing the country’s ability to retain value from its mineral resources.
This marks a major breakthrough in a sector that has historically suffered significant losses due to illicit trade, under-declaration and informal export routes that deprived the state of much-needed revenue and foreign exchange earnings.
GoldBod officials say the taskforce was established as part of broader reforms aimed at formalising the ASM sector, strengthening traceability systems and restoring state oversight over domestic gold trade.
The report notes that the enforcement intervention has significantly improved compliance among licensed operators while making it increasingly difficult for illegal traders and smugglers to operate outside the formal system.
As part of this effort, GoldBod spent GH₵14,294,116 on taskforce deployment in 2025, making it the single largest specialised expenditure item captured in the institution’s financial statements for the year.
The investment reflects the strategic importance placed on enforcement as a key pillar of GoldBod’s operational model and its broader mandate to sanitize the gold trading ecosystem.
Officials say the gains from the taskforce go beyond enforcement, as stronger export compliance has directly contributed to record gold export performance and improved macroeconomic stability.
In 2025, Ghana recorded approximately US$20 billion in total gold exports, up sharply from US$10.3 billion in 2024, with the formalisation of the ASM sector driving much of the increase.
ASM gold exports alone reached 104 metric tonnes valued at US$10.8 billion, with GoldBod attributing much of this success to tighter monitoring, licensing reforms and anti-smuggling operations.
For GoldBod, the success of the taskforce reinforces the argument that formalisation must be backed by strong enforcement, and that protecting Ghana’s gold from illicit trade is central to protecting the country’s economic future.
Sompaonline.com/Bismarck Oppong