Policy analyst and co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Steve Manteaw, has defended the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) over the reported $1.7 billion losses incurred through its gold purchasing operations.
Dr Manteaw argues that the figure should not be viewed in isolation or interpreted as evidence that the country’s gold purchase programme has failed.
He said the reported losses should instead be understood within the broader context of the costs associated with buying gold domestically and using the transactions to generate foreign exchange and strengthen Ghana’s reserves.
In an interview with Joy News on Tuesday, August 18, Dr Manteaw said there was nothing inherently wrong with the reported $1.7 billion loss, describing it as a transaction cost associated with the gold purchase programme.
He also challenged what he described as a selective discussion of GoldBod’s financial performance, arguing that Ghana had recorded losses from gold purchasing activities in previous years without generating the same level of public concern.
“There is a certain level of insincerity in discussing this very issue, and we make it look like this is the first time Ghana is making losses in its gold purchase programme. I have looked at the data. 2022, we made a loss. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, we incurred losses in all those years. Why didn’t that become a problem?
“Let’s say, for instance, in 2024, we made a total loss of GH¢5.7 billion, GH¢1.8 billion from gold for oil and then GH¢3.8 billion from our domestic gold for reserves, a total of GH¢5.7 billion. How much export revenue did we bring in? A mere GH¢4 billion, and so if you had to incur a loss of $1.7 billion to bring in $10 billion, that for me shouldn’t be a problem. It means that what we call losses are transaction costs.”
