GoldBod Rejects $1.7bn Loss Claim, Says 2025 Accounts Show GH¢5.4bn Surplus

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has rejected claims that the state-owned gold trading institution recorded losses of $1.7 billion in 2025, describing the allegation as a “barefaced lie.”

Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, Mr Gyamfi insisted that GoldBod’s audited financial statements for the 2025 financial year contradict the claims made by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin.

According to him, GoldBod did not record any loss from its gold trading operations during the period under review.

“We have not made any losses as claimed by the Minority Leader,” Mr Gyamfi said.

He explained that the audited annual report and financial statements of GoldBod for the year ended December 31, 2025, showed an operational surplus of GH¢907 million and an overall surplus of GH¢5.4 billion.

Mr Gyamfi further stated that the Auditor-General made no adverse finding against GoldBod in relation to its 2025 financial performance.

He challenged Mr Afenyo-Markin to identify the specific section of the audited report that supports the alleged loss.

“I challenge Afenyo-Markin to point to any page, paragraph, sentence, phrase or punctuation mark in the said referenced report to prove the loss by GoldBod,” he said.

The GoldBod CEO was responding to claims made by the Minority Leader during a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, August 18.

Mr Afenyo-Markin alleged that Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, which is operated through GoldBod, recorded losses exceeding $1.7 billion in 2025.

He said the figure, which he estimated at GH¢22 billion, represented approximately 1.5 per cent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Minority Leader described the alleged losses as a form of “structural bleeding” of the national purse and argued that they could not simply be attributed to fluctuations in the international gold market.

“These losses are not bad luck. You don’t trade in gold and make losses,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.

He also questioned whether GoldBod’s reported surplus provided a complete picture of the institution’s financial position.

According to him, some of the costs associated with GoldBod’s gold transactions were allegedly absorbed by the Bank of Ghana rather than being reflected directly in GoldBod’s accounts.

“If the Auditor-General knows that indeed the costs of GoldBod’s transaction were borne by Bank of Ghana, Auditor-General would not declare surplus,” he argued.

Mr Afenyo-Markin has therefore called for a review of GoldBod’s pricing and trading practices and indicated that he would file a motion in Parliament to compel the institution’s management to account for the alleged losses.

GoldBod, however, maintains that its audited accounts present a different financial picture.

Mr Gyamfi said the institution’s 2025 audited annual report and financial statements recorded an operational surplus of GH¢907 million and an overall surplus of GH¢5.4 billion.

He argued that the audited figures, rather than political claims, should be used to determine whether GoldBod made a profit or suffered a loss during the year.

The dispute now centres largely on the treatment of transaction-related costs, with the Minority maintaining that certain expenses were borne by the Bank of Ghana, while GoldBod insists that its audited financial statements accurately reflect its performance.