The Bank of Ghana has reduced its gold holdings by approximately 51 percent, shifting its focus toward foreign-currency assets to improve liquidity and generate higher investment returns.

Governor Dr. Johnson P. Asiama said the move came after gold made up more than 40 percent of the country’s total reserves, a concentration the central bank deemed too high.

“At the time, we were holding a little over 40 percent, so the decision was made to diversify, and that is what you see today,” Dr. Asiama explained during the 128th Monetary Policy Committee press briefing in Accra.

As part of the strategy, the Bank sold a portion of its gold holdings and reinvested the proceeds into income-generating foreign assets. Dr. Asiama noted that the approach has strengthened, rather than weakened, Ghana’s reserve accumulation.

“The effects we aimed for are already visible. The assets are earning dividends and contributing to reserve growth,” he said.

The reduction in gold exposure comes amid a global rally, with spot gold prices rising above US$5,200 an ounce in late January. However, Dr. Asiama cautioned that the surge may be temporary.

“It is true gold prices have reached record levels, but what you see now may be transitory and may not be permanent,” he said.

Despite the lower share of bullion, Ghana’s gross international reserves grew to US$13.8 billion at the end of December 2025, covering 5.7 months of imports, up from US$9.1 billion a year earlier.

Dr. Asiama emphasized that the adjustment reflects portfolio management rather than a retreat from gold. Future decisions will continue to focus on what is structurally optimal for Ghana’s reserves.

President John Dramani Mahama has urged African countries to bring an end to the export of raw materials, warning that the continent will continue to lose jobs, revenue and industrial capacity if it fails to add value to its natural resources.

Speaking at the Africa Trade Summit on Wednesday, President Mahama said Africa’s long-standing dependence on primary commodity exports had entrenched economic vulnerability and stunted industrial development.

“Africa cannot continue to export raw materials and re-import finished goods at many times their original value,” he said, describing the model as one that “exports wealth and imports unemployment.”

The President cited cocoa as a clear example of the structural imbalance facing African economies, noting that while Africa produces the majority of the world’s cocoa, it earns only a small share of the value generated by the global chocolate industry.

“This situation is not unique to cocoa,” he said. “We see the same pattern in oil, textiles, timber and mineral resources, where Africa remains at the bottom of the value chain.”

President Mahama stressed that industrialization on the continent must be anchored in value addition and beneficiation, arguing that processing Africa’s resources locally would create jobs, support technology transfer and expand domestic revenue.

Turning to Ghana’s experience, he said the country was deliberately shifting away from a commodity-export model towards a value-added economy. According to him, this strategy prioritizes agro-processing, manufacturing and industrial clusters aligned with Ghana’s natural endowments.

“Our focus is to add value to what we produce—cocoa, cashew, oil palm, cassava, petroleum, gold, manganese and bauxite—so that these resources can drive real economic transformation,” President Mahama said.

He added that value addition was also critical to the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), noting that meaningful intra-African trade would only be achieved if countries traded finished and semi-finished goods rather than raw materials.

“Beneficiation is not optional; it is essential if Africa is to industrialize, compete globally and secure prosperity for its people,” he said.

The Africa Trade Summit brings together heads of state, policymakers, business leaders and development partners to discuss strategies for boosting industrialization, strengthening regional value chains and expanding intra-African trade.

President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday 28th January, 2026 said Ghana’s recent reforms in the gold sector demonstrate how African countries can reclaim control over their natural resources while strengthening economic sovereignty.

Speaking at the Africa Trade Summit 2026, President Mahama argued that Africa must move away from what he described as a colonial-style system of resource extraction that benefits foreign interests at the expense of domestic development.

“On the issue of resource sovereignty, we must break the colonial mode of large, foreign-owned concessions that extract value for the benefit of foreign interests while Africa remains in poverty,” President Mahama said.

He urged African leaders to pursue policies that ensure their countries retain a fairer share of the value generated from natural resources, insisting that this approach is essential for sustainable development.

“We must be boldly selfish and claim a fairer share of our natural resource endowment,” he stated.

President Mahama cited the establishment of the Ghana ‘Goldbod’ as a key reform that has significantly improved oversight and foreign-exchange retention in the small-scale mining sector.

According to him, Ghana exported about 63 tonnes of gold from small-scale mining in 2024, but foreign-exchange repatriation accounted for only around 40 tonnes, meaning the proceeds from 23 tonnes of gold did not return to the country.

“That situation was unacceptable for a country seeking to build economic resilience,” Mahama noted.

He explained that since the Gold Board was established in April 2025, export volumes have increased while financial controls have been strengthened.

“Exports from the small-scale mining sector have now risen to 104 tonnes, and 100 per cent of the foreign exchange is being repatriated through the Bank of Ghana,” President Mahama said.

He described the outcome as clear evidence that resource sovereignty does not hinder production but instead enhances national benefits.

“This is what reclaiming resource control looks like in practice — higher exports, full value retention, and national ownership of our wealth,” he added.

The Africa Trade Summit 2026 brought together African leaders, policymakers, and business executives to discuss strategies for deepening intra-African trade, accelerating industrialisation, and strengthening economic self-reliance under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

President Mahama’s remarks have renewed calls for African governments to review mining regimes and resource governance frameworks as part of broader efforts to transform the continent’s economies.