Razak Kojo Opoku Challenges Claims Over GoldBod’s US$1.7bn Loss

Razak Kojo Opoku (PhD) has offered an assessment of Ghana’s gold trading regime, arguing that the reported US$1.7 billion loss associated with GoldBod should not be viewed simply as a direct financial loss to the state.

He said the figure, as cited from the IMF report, largely reflects policy-related accounting costs, quasi-fiscal costs, trading shortfalls and transaction-related costs, including exchange-rate effects, service and assay fees, and discounts on gold sold to off-takers.

Opoku argued that it would therefore be unfair to blame GoldBod alone for the entire US$1.7 billion figure, stressing that the Bank of Ghana also forms part of the accounting and policy framework surrounding the reported cost.

He further contrasted the figure with the estimated US$11.4 billion Ghana lost to gold smuggling between 2019 and 2024, arguing that gold smuggling poses a much greater long-term threat to the country’s economy.

According to Opoku, the key issue is not merely whether GoldBod incurred costs, but whether the institution’s operations are achieving their broader objectives of increasing Ghana’s foreign-exchange reserves, supporting the stability of the cedi and reducing gold smuggling.

He also raised questions about GoldBod’s relationship with illegal mining, asking what measures have been implemented to prevent the institution from purchasing gold linked to galamsey activities and how much gold smuggling has actually been reduced since the introduction of the GoldBod system.

Opoku also compared GoldBod with the previous Gold-for-Oil (G4O) and Gold-for-Reserves (G4R) programmes, noting the reported financial losses associated with those initiatives and questioning whether they achieved their intended objectives.

He concluded that Ghana should not assess GoldBod solely on the basis of the reported US$1.7 billion cost, but should instead examine the full economic benefits, foreign-exchange gains, reduction in gold smuggling and overall value delivered to the country.

“The ultimate question is whether Ghana has the most efficient gold-trading policy capable of maximising national benefits while minimising financial, accounting and economic costs,” Opoku’s assessment argues.