Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme – Dr. Bawumia’s greatest gift to Ghana

The announcement by the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiama, that the Central Bank intends to stabilise the Cedi through the BoG’s Gold Purchase Programme, has brought to the fore, once again, the remarkable progress Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia championed for Ghana when he had the opportunity to serve the country.

Dr. Bawumia, as Vice President of Ghana, undoubtedly distinguished himself well in the service of the country, and left office with widely acknowledged accolade as the most impactful Vice President in Ghana’s history.

And if his impact as Vice President is strongly felt and acclaimed, it is because of the work he did, through the numerous policies and interventions he proposed and championed.

With over 33 impactful policies across many key sectors credited to him, it is always difficult to point out which of them is the most impactful, because they are all playing critical roles in the nation’s development.

Whether it is the ambulance for all constituencies, agenda 111 hospitals for all districts or the globally acclaimed Zipline medical drone service in the health sector; whether it is championing the Ghanacard as the bedrock of a modern Ghanaian society and economy; whether it is championing a unique mobile money interoperability to significantly advance financial inclusion; whether it is pushing for the abolishing of textbooks and the introduction of digital textbooks on laptops for all students; whether it is the championing of electronic gates and border control to manage our borders; or whether the championing of a unique national digital property address system, among others, Dr. Bawumia has under his belt a number of great ideas he introduced for Ghana, which are making significant impact.

However, one policy stand out, and that is, without doubt, the BoG’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme. The Bank of Ghana Governor’s announcement of plans by the Central Bank to stabilise the Cedi with over $1.5bn,
through the Gold Purchase Programme, has further strengthened my belief in this policy as Bawumia’s greatest gift for Ghana.

“Beginning October 2025, the Bank of Ghana will commence foreign exchange (FX) intermediation under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, with plans to sell up to US$1.15 billion for the month,” the Governor said, highlighting the indispensable role the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme is playing in Ghana’s economic management.

The Governor’s comment, and indeed official data confirm that the very reasons why Dr. Bawumia proposed and championed the implementation of the initiative, inspite of open opposition against it, are being realised.

Dr. Bawumia, speaking 4 years ago, decried Ghana’s unacceptable paltry gold reserves of 8.7 tonnes, despite being Africa’s largest producers of gold and one of the top in the world. Once he got the Central Bank to purchase gold to boost Ghana’s gold reserves, Dr. Bawumia envisioned that the increased gold reserves at the Central Bank, would significantly transform Ghana’s forex management, as the Central Bank could rely on the increased reserves in critical situations, rather than rely on foreign exchange, which had traditionally been the case.

“Ghana is Africa’s largest gold producer, having overtaken South Africa in 2019. But Ghana’s extracted gold assets are based on the royalty take, limited dividends and corporate income tax. These fiscal gains are typically taken in cash, and about 80% paid into the Consolidated Fund. The Bank of Ghana holds moderate amount of physical gold of 8.7 tonnes as part of its reserves. For nearly 3 decades, almost 60 years, we have not added an ounce to our reserve holdings,” Dr. Bawumia said this 4 years ago, ahead of the start of the initiative.

A few years on, the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme by the Bank of Ghana has not only significantly boosted Ghana’s gold reserves, as Bawumia envisaged, it is also contributing significantly to the stability of the Cedi, as revealed by the new Govornor.

Within three years, the Bank of Ghana has been able to increase Ghana’s gold reserves by more than 300%. In over 60 years after independence, Ghana had accumulated only 8.7 tonnes of gold reserves, with only about one tonne addition in 30 years, at the time the programmed started. However, thanks to the Gold Purchase Programme Bawumia introduced, the Bank of Ghana was able to remarkably increase its gold reserves to over 30.6 tonnes in less than 2 years of the introduction of the programme, by January 2025, and to 30.7 tonnes as at September 2025.

As Bawumia predicted, this remarkable success of the initiative has made it possible for the country to curb over reliance on foreign exchange, and also adopt the intervention announced by the Governor.

The truth is, before Bawumia introduced this policy, no policymaker or politician in Ghana had proposed a gold purchasing initiative to increase reserves, and make it possible to barter trade with it in crucial moments, as was done for the Gold for Oil Programme at a time the nation’s US Dollar reserve was nearly empty.

If, after over 65 years of independence, Ghana has suddenly begun focusing on gold as a strategic economic asset, it is because of Dr. Bawumia’s vision.

I remember during his pre election engagement with the press in 2024, Dr. Bawumia promised to institutionalise the programme and make it bigger if he won the election to be President. And if today, the NDC government has introduced the GoldBod, it is building upon the foundational ideas first proposed by Dr. Bawumia, which he promised to expand.

Bawumia called for the initiative to be sustained, and if today the new Bank of Ghana Governor is using it as part of the Central Bank’s Cedi stability strategy, that is remarkable progress and a testament to the positive effect of the vision Bawumia birthed for Ghana.

A great policy is one that transcends regimes and Bawumia’s Gold Purchase Programme is one of them.

I have no doubt, that the Bank of Ghana Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, is Dr. Bawumia’s biggest gift to Ghana!

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.