The Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Sammy Gyamfi, has revealed that Ghana loses between 70% and 80% of gold produced by small-scale mining companies to smuggling.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, March 20 about Ghana’s gold industry and the impact of illegal mining, he stated, “We lose over 70 to 80% of the gold that is produced by small-scale mining companies to smuggling. And what that means is that the state is not only deprived of revenue in terms of taxes but the state is also deprived of the forex, which is the most important thing we need to stabilize the national currency.”
According to him, as of 2022, gold exports were primarily handled by bullion traders who held export licenses from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, based on recommendations from the Minerals Commission. There were 61 such licensed traders, the majority of whom were foreigners, mainly Indians and Chinese. Ghanaian traders, being in the minority, struggled to compete due to limited financial resources compared to their foreign counterparts.
Mr Gyamfi noted that these bullion traders were required to repatriate at least 80% of their foreign earnings within 30 days of export under the current regulations. However, many failed to comply with this requirement.
“What was happening was that these bullion traders under the current regime are allowed to repatriate only 80% of their forex within 30 days of export, and even with that flexible regime, most of them were not adhering to that,” he said.
He further explained, “You have license holders buying gold under the pretense of exporting only to smuggle the gold. And you have those who export the gold through legal means but fail to repatriate the forex back into Ghana so that our central bank can get dollars for those who need them for their businesses.”
In 2024, Ghana’s gold exports amounted to approximately $11.5 billion. However, concerns remain about how much of this revenue was repatriated to support the Ghanaian cedi. Mr Gyamfi pointed to inconsistencies in gold export records between Ghana and Dubai.
“You check gold exports from Ghana to Dubai as recorded by the PMMC for 2022, and you compare it to the figures recorded by Dubai authorities, and you see a huge gap of about $2.3 billion. Whereas Dubai records show over $4 billion, our records in Ghana only show $2 billion in legally exported gold,” he revealed.
He stated that the loss of such a huge amount of gold to smuggling not only deprives the state of tax revenue but also weakens the country’s foreign exchange.
“So you look at the fact that in 2024, gold exports alone were to the tune of $11.5 billion, and you ask yourself, how much of these dollars came back into the country to support the cedi?” he questioned.
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