The acting Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Sammy Gyamfi says Ghana is losing billions in foreign exchange due to unregulated gold exports, a situation that continues to weaken the national currency.
He raised concerns about the country’s inability to retain forex from its gold trade, despite the minerals’ potential to generate far more revenue than cocoa.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr Gyamfi questioned Ghana’s approach to gold exports, arguing that the country is losing valuable foreign exchange due to poor regulation.
“Cocoa in terms of value does not compare in any way even to gold. Gold can give Ghana ten times more forex than cocoa gives, but why is it that with cocoa, Ghana decided long ago to be the sole exporter, yet with gold, we allow different people to export?
“The dollars don’t come back, and our cedi keeps getting weaker and weaker. Today, on the black market, if you want one dollar, you need more than 15 Ghana cedis. Are we not all worried?” he asked.
Mr Gyamfi highlighted the environmental costs of gold mining and the lack of financial returns to the state. “We mine gold at great cost to the environment. Those who mine the gold don’t pay royalties. The only tax they were paying was corporate tax and a 1.5% withholding tax, and now even that 1.5% withholding tax has been removed,” he said.
He further stressed that once the gold is mined, there are no restrictions on who it can be sold to. “When they mine the gold, they can sell it to whoever they want. A large portion of the gold is smuggled, the dollars don’t come back, we are not getting revenue, we are not getting forex so what are we really gaining from this mining?” he questioned.
Mr Gyamfi suggested that Ghana should centralise gold purchasing and trading through a single agency to ensure that foreign exchange earnings benefit the economy.
“At least we can get the forex back through an agency that will centralize the purchasing and trading. Then mining will make sense,” he added.
