Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has disclosed that a 3% withholding tax introduced in 2021 under the Akufo-Addo administration led to a dramatic collapse in small-scale gold production and foreign exchange inflows.
Speaking on News File on Joy FM on Saturday, January 3, 2026, Sammy Gyamfi said small-scale gold exports plunged from 39.3 tonnes in 2020 to just 3.4 tonnes in 2021 following the introduction of the tax, with Ghana losing billions of dollars in potential foreign exchange earnings.
“In 2021, the NPP introduced a 3% withholding tax on small-scale gold. Small-scale gold exports output declined sharply that year from 39.3 tons in 2020 worth 2 billion dollars to 3.4 tons. The whole year 2021 Ghana got 3.4 tons from small-scale sector because of 3% discount in the form of withholding tax. And FX inflows reduced from 2 billion dollars from 2020 to 185 million dollars.”
Sammy Gyamfi explained that the sharp decline underscored the sensitivity of the small-scale mining sector to fiscal policy and reinforced the need to prioritise macroeconomic stability over narrow accounting profits.
He said lessons from the 2021 experience informed the current approach by the Bank of Ghana and GoldBod, particularly in building gold reserves and strengthening the cedi rather than focusing on short-term financial gains.
“So learning from this experience, the Bank of Ghana does not pursue its own accounting profits. Because the Bank of Ghana is a banker of last resort, it’s a banker of government, it is mandated to achieve price stability and support government’s economic policy. They are there to build reserves to ensure that your currency is strong and when you achieve that the benefits you get render any accounting loss infinitesimal.”
The GoldBod CEO’s comments come at a time of heightened public debate following reports alleging that the Board had recorded losses. Sammy Gyamfi dismissed the US$214 million loss as inaccurate, stressing that eventhough GoldBod is not a profit-making institution, the entity has not incurred any losses.
He said management accounts for 2025 show that GoldBod generated over GH₵960 million in revenue, while total expenditure remained below GH₵120 million, placing the institution on course to declaring an income surplus.
Sammy Gyamfi maintained that reforms in the gold trading sector are being shaped by hard lessons from past policy missteps, particularly those that undermined small-scale miners and weakened Ghana’s foreign exchange position.
