Ghana launches task force to curb gold smuggling losses

Ghana President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday launched a task force backed by security forces to address illegal gold trading as Africa's top producer seeks to recover billions lost to smuggling. The task force is Ghana's first national anti-gold smuggling initiative.

The government has previously launched efforts to sanitise artisanal mining but these were unsuccessful in curbing illegal extraction and preventing revenue losses that plague most African gold producers.

Ghana this year created the new gold board known as GoldBod to centralise gold trading. This has led to record official exports of 55.7 metric tonnes of gold valued at $5bn (R89bn) in the first five months of 2025, Mahama said at the inauguration of the new task force.

“This is money that would not have come back to Ghana because traders would have taken it and kept the foreign exchange outside,” Mahama said.

To encourage public cooperation with the anti-smuggling task force, which will involve  soldiers and police officers, informants will receive 10% of the value of gold seized as a result of their tips, Mahama said.

Ghana plans to implement a nationwide gold traceability system and transition to refined gold exports by 2026, Mahama said.

The country will also seek to capture more value from gold through an assay laboratory, certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation to guarantee quality, and a specialised manufacturing hub.

West African governments are striving to capture more revenue from surging commodity prices.

Military-led nations are adopting aggressive policies, including rewriting mining codes, seizing assets and renegotiating contracts, while democracies such as Ghana and Ivory Coast are pursuing measured reforms through higher royalties and enhanced revenue-sharing deals.

Gold prices have jumped 25% this year to date, and peaked at $3,500 (R62,300) per ounce in April, according to Reuters data.

Reuters