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Kenneth Ashigbey isn't ready to sign. The chief executive officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines told Reuters this week that negotiations over the central bank's push to raise its compulsory gold offtake from 20% to 30% of annual output remain unresolved, with pricing and discount terms still on the table.
Ghana, Africa's biggest gold producer, launched the bullion purchase program in 2022 to rebuild foreign reserves after the country's worst macroeconomic crisis in a generation. The government revamped the program in February, with a goal of accumulating 157 metric tons of gold by 2028, equivalent to 15 months of import cover.
Paul Bleboo, head of the Bank of Ghana's Gold Management Program, told Reuters on Thursday that the central bank intends to negotiate for 30% of industrial mining output going forward, all of it delivered in doré form to give the state full traceability over volumes and refining margins. State gold trader GoldBod will act as the gatekeeper, with every export passing through its books.
The math, on paper, is straightforward. Last year, industrial miners delivered roughly 10 tons against declared production of about 100 tons, which Bleboo said works out to a 10% delivery rate against the 20% commitment. Tightening the framework to 30% with tougher reporting is the central bank's response.
Ashigbey isn't sure the new target lands cleanly. Discussions on pricing and discounts, he told Reuters, are not straightforward. A second mining executive, who asked not to be named, said the industry opposes the under 1% discount the central bank is proposing on industrial gold purchases and rejects the zero valuation being applied to silver and other refining by-products. The same source said companies want a gradual ramp-up, arguing internal plans were built around a 20% allocation, not 30%.
The stakes reach beyond Ghana. Central banks globally are accumulating bullion at the fastest pace in decades as record prices reframe gold as a strategic reserve asset. Ghana's gold reserves climbed to 19.2 metric tons in February, helping stabilize the cedi as the economy recovered. But the central bank also booked a 15.6 billion cedi operating loss in 2025, with reserve-building costs cited prominently in its accounts.
How the negotiation resolves will set the precedent for every African gold jurisdiction watching from Mali, Burkina Faso and Tanzania.
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