IMANI Africa's Bright Simons Warns GoldBod Scheme Costs Ghana Over $1.7bn in Losses

• IMANI Africa Vice President Bright Simons raised fresh concerns about the structural costs of Ghana's GoldBod scheme on the national economy
• An IMF report revealed the central bank's Domestic Gold Purchase Programme recorded losses exceeding $1.7 billion in 2025, costing roughly 17 cents per dollar of foreign exchange generated
• Simons questioned whether improvements linked to GoldBod reflect sound policy design or are simply a product of record-high global gold prices

Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has renewed scrutiny of Ghana's GoldBod scheme, warning that the programme imposes structural economic costs that official assessments have failed to fully account for.

His remarks follow an International Monetary Fund report confirming that the Bank of Ghana's Domestic Gold Purchase Programme recorded losses in excess of $1.7 billion in 2025, equivalent to approximately 17 cents for every dollar of foreign exchange the scheme generated.

GoldBod's hidden costs

Simons, writing on X, said the IMF findings validated concerns his organisation had long raised about the economic model underpinning GoldBod.

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State authorities have countered that acquisition costs have recently declined to below 12 cents per dollar and that targets of under five cents per dollar are within reach.

Simons, however, argued those figures do not capture liquidity sterilisation expenses, meaning the true cost to the economy remains higher than official data suggests.

GoldBod was established to purchase the entire output of Ghana's small-scale gold mining sector and 30% of large-scale production.

The programme originally drew on advances from the central bank before funding responsibilities shifted to the Ministry of Finance.

Policy design or market luck?

Beyond the cost question, Bright Simons raised a more fundamental concern about how the scheme's benefits are being interpreted.

He argued that the apparent gains in currency stability may owe more to historically elevated global gold prices than to any deliberate policy architecture within GoldBod itself.

"The question is whether these 'benefits' are due mostly to the hike in gold prices and thus would have manifested anyway without the GoldBod," Simons wrote.

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The distinction matters considerably for long-term planning. If the cedi's relative stability is primarily a function of buoyant commodity markets rather than the design of the scheme, its resilience during a period of falling gold prices would come into serious doubt.

Critics of the programme argue that policymakers must establish a clear causal link between GoldBod's operational model and macroeconomic outcomes before committing further public resources to its expansion.

Read Bright Simons' X post below

GoldBod CEO denies GH¢200m missing funds

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported that GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi’s lawyers had described allegations linking him to GH¢200 million in missing funds as false and defamatory.

The legal notice stated that Mr Gyamfi had never met or maintained any professional relationship with businessman Dominic Bonsu.

GoldBod had confirmed that Mr Bonsu’s company licence had been suspended and that he had been arrested and remanded by the High Court in Accra.

Source: YEN.com.gh