Kweku Ricketts-Hagan is the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South
Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, has questioned the rationale behind the Gold-for-Oil programme initiated by the Akufo-Addo government.
Describing the programme as an “unthinkable policy,” he criticised the approach of barter trading Ghana’s gold for oil in today’s global economic system.
He argued that the policy defies modern economic logic, noting that both gold and oil are commodities traded openly on international markets with standardized pricing.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, the Cape Coast MP said; “The oil for gold, or gold for oil, whatever you call it, that you were doing, which turned out to be one of the unbelievable, unthinkable policies that can ever be implemented in this modern age. We have a world market for gold. We have a world market for oil and you are sitting in some little corner, you are doing a barter trade of oil and gold. How? And you said it’s an economic policy.”
“Gold has a world market price. If anybody wants to buy gold, they go to the market. Oil has a market price. If anybody wants to buy oil, they go to the market. Why would you call somebody in Dubai and do a barter trade in this day and age? I mean, did you set up your own price in that barter trade?” he quizzed.
Ricketts-Hagan further asked that; “Did you have a different price for gold and a different price for oil than what is being given in the world market? What was in for you? And what was in for the other person? Nobody in their right senses will sell oil to you at a price lower than the market and then you may want to sell gold to other people below the world market. It is not surprising.”
According to him, the programme resulted in a staggering loss of $2.4 billion, citing a lack of transparency in pricing, supplier identity, and transaction structure.
“We don’t know who was supplying the oil. We don’t know the price. The government itself didn’t know,” he said.
The Gold-for-Oil policy was a strategic programme launched by the Akufo-Addo government in 2023.
It aimed to utilise the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase (DGP) programme to support the importation of petroleum products into the country.
The initiative was designed to free up foreign exchange resources and reduce pressure on the central bank’s foreign reserves and the banking sector.
It also sought to procure petroleum products at competitive prices through government-to-government arrangements.
The BoG purchases all gold produced and exported by companies with licensed small-scale concessions, including community mines.
This gold is then used to pay for oil supplies to Ghana, either through barter trade or via a broker channel.
However, the programme’s execution quickly drew scrutiny.
According to the Bank of Ghana, the country recorded some loses of GH¢2.14 billion from the programme, GH¢320 million in 2023 and GH¢1.82 billion in 2024.
The central bank attributed it to exchange rate differentials and petroleum stockpiling.
SA/EB
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