Ghana yesterday signed an agreement with Gold Coast Refinery Ltd, an Egyptian company, to refine one metric tonne of gold (1,000 kilogrammes) locally every week.
The agreement, signed in Accra, is expected to add value to the country’s mining sector and reduce Ghana’s long-standing dependence on foreign refineries.
It was witnessed by the Board Chairman of GOLDBOD, Mr Kojo Fynn, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Yusif Sulemana, the Ambassador of Egypt to Ghana, senior government officials, industry players, and members of the media.
Speaking at the signing, the Chief Executive Officer of GOLDBOD, Mr Sammy Gyamfi, said up to 1,000 kilogrammes of gold exported by GOLDBOD every week would be refined in Ghana at Gold Coast Refinery, rather than being shipped abroad in raw form.
The arrangement, he emphasised, was expected to commence fully from February 1, 2026, with prospects of scaling up to cover all gold exports from the country.
Mr Gyamfi described the agreement as a “groundbreaking and historic milestone” that would transform the country’s gold sector from one focused largely on raw exports to one driven by value optimisation.
He disclosed that a visit to Gold Coast Refinery in April 2025 revealed that the facility, even though the largest gold refinery in the sub-region, was operating below capacity.
“It was troubling to discover that 99.9 per cent of Ghana’s gold, whether from small-scale or large-scale mining, leaves the country unrefined, even though we have such a critical facility here,” he noted.
He added that the agreement would ensure that gold refined locally meets a minimum purity of 99.5 per cent, with the capacity to achieve higher international standards.
“Each refined gold bar exported under the agreement would bear a hallmark incorporating the emblems of Gold Coast Refinery, GOLDBOD, the Ghana Standards Authority and the Bank of Ghana, strengthening credibility and traceability,” the CEO highlighted.
Mr Gyamfi explained that the agreement would lead to the creation of both direct and indirect jobs, particularly as Gold Coast Refinery has been granted approval to operate on a 24-hour basis in line with the government’s 24-hour economy policy.
He also noted that the deal would also result in increased tax revenue for the state, as well as potential dividend earnings from Ghana’s 15 per cent free-carried interest in the project.
Beyond revenue generation, he stressed that the agreement would address long-standing challenges in the gold sector, particularly purity losses and the persistent undervaluation of the country’s gold exports.
He observed that despite being a leading gold producer, Ghana currently lacked adequate capacity to independently determine the true value of all gold exported, a gap the agreement seeks to close.
Furthermore, Mr Gyamfi indicated that local assay testing would eliminate historical purity losses and gold undervaluation, enabling Ghana to determine independently the true value of its gold and accurately account for associated silver content.
He added that the initiative would save Ghana millions of dollars in refining charges currently paid to refineries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, while creating jobs through round-the-clock operations under the government’s 24-hour economy policy.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gold Coast Refinery Limited, Dr Saeed Deraz, said the agreement aligned with President Mahama’s vision of economic independence and greater national control over natural resources.
He stated that Gold Coast Refinery, commissioned in 2016, has the capacity to process up to 180 metric tonnes of gold annually and holds key international certifications, adding that the partnership would reposition Ghana as a major gold refining hub in the sub-region
BY CECILIA YADA LAGBA
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