EconomyGhana Bans Raw Gold Exports — $20 Billion Must Be Refined at HomeAired August 27, 2026 at 8:15 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:26 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Ghana will no longer let its gold leave unfinished.0:02Gold pays for about 60% of everything the country sells abroad.0:06In 2025, 63.1%, about $20.2 billion of $32 billion in total0:12exports.0:13That entire stream must now be refined at home before it can be shipped.0:16Can Ghana's approved refineries handle more than 100 tons of doré in five days0:21without pushing miners back to the black market?0:23That number is why this ban matters.0:26Gold was 63.1% of merchandise export value last year, $20.2 billion.0:32That is more than double 2024 gold earnings of about 10.3 billion, and far above0:37cocoa and crude oil combined at about 7.9 billion.0:40When gold moves, Ghana's ability to pay for imports, service debt, and build0:44reserves moves with it.0:45Production made that dominance possible.0:47Ghana mined a record near 5.94 million ounces in 2025, about0:52187 tons.0:54The surge came from formalization of small-scale mining.0:57Artisanal and small-scale doray exports rose from about 63.6 tons in 2024 to about1:03103 to 104 tons in 2025, more than half of national output at about 3.111:09million ounces in some breakdowns, while large-scale output declined modestly.1:13The rule arrives on a tight clock.1:15The law that enables it was assented on 2 April 2025.1:19The detailed guidelines followed on 13 July 2026, and the compliance notice landed1:24on the 24th of August, 2026.1:26Licensed self-financing aggregators.1:28Buyers who use their own funds to purchase artisanal doray under agreements with1:31approved off-takers have until 31 August 2026 to rewrite every contract to require1:36local refining.1:37From the f from the Sept September,1:40nothing leaves unrefined.1:42Doray is not bullion.1:44It is a semi-refined alloy that comes straight from artisanal and small-scale1:48mining, typically 50 to 90% gold mixed with silver and base metal impurities.1:53Under this rule, it must be upgraded at a Goldbod approved or designated local1:57refinery to at least 99.5% purity, 995 fine, often to2:0299.9% and LBMA good delivery standards before it counts as refined.2:07Export approval comes only after Goldbaud confirms that refining happened in Ghana,2:12refining charges have been settled by the aggregator or off-taker under their2:16commercial arrangement, and assay and other requirements are met.2:19Large-scale mines operate under different arrangements and are largely outside the2:23specific SFA Doray directive, though separate local refining arrangements exist for2:27portions of their output.2:29The political anchor is President John Dramani Mahama.2:32The name was rendered in the initial transmission as John Ramani Mahama, inaugurated2:377 in January 2025 at Black Star Square in Accra.2:41The government frames this as value capture, formalize a trade long marked by2:45smuggling and informality, keep smelting and refining, assay fees, margins and jobs2:50inside Ghana, retain foreign exchange, build transparent traceability, And push2:54domestic refineries toward LBMA certification on the way to a headline target of2:58zero raw mineral exports by 2030.3:00Enforcement is not advisory.3:02Breaching the refining requirement is a breach of license.3:06Goldbaud can refuse or suspend export approvals, suspend or revoke the aggregator's3:11license, and impose administrative sanctions, with the act providing for fines3:15measured in millions of CEDIS and imprisonment for unlicensed activity.3:19For the thousands of aggregators and the small-scale miners they buy from, men and3:23women who historically sold raw bars to traders shipping to refineries in Dubai,3:27Switzerland, and South Africa, the first value-adding step, its cost and its delay,3:32now stays in Ghana.3:33The financing behind formalization carries its own contradiction.3:37Country Report No.3:3826-213, Ghana, Selected Issues, the background paper for the 2026 Article 53:44Consultation and Sixth Review under the Extended Credit Facility, published in early3:48August 2026 after executive board action in late July 2026.3:52found the Bank of Ghana's domestic gold purchase program lost over $1.7 billion in3:562025.3:57About 1.5% of GDP almost entirely related to gold for reserves DORE purchases,4:03a loss equal to about 17% of the value of Dore the central bank sold.4:08Losses in 2024 were about $400 million.4:12The report attributes the losses to service and assay fees paid to Goldbaud,4:16discounts on gold sold to off-takers and exporters, and most importantly, the4:20exchange rate spread between the Forex Bureau rate used to buy gold and the CD4:24reference rate used in accounting.4:26The figure excludes sterilization costs of accumulated reserves and includes4:30valuation effects, not only cash economic costs, a point Goldbaud has contested4:35while emphasizing the scaling of the bank's program.4:37The program that produced those losses was operationally central to that rise in4:42reserves to $12.7 billion, including the formal capture of gold that would have been4:47smuggled before, but it weakened the central bank's balance sheet to negative equity4:51of about 6.7% of GDP at end 2025.4:55As of 10 Logs July 2026, those domestic gold purchase program activities were5:00transferred fully to Goldbaud under a memorandum of understanding, so the central5:04bank exits the quasi-fiscal risks.5:06For workers, the stakes are now double-edged.5:08In principle, keeping refining at home means more stable prices for licensed5:12small-scale miners, more laboratory and refinery jobs, and more dollars staying in5:16Ghana instead of being discounted away abroad.5:18In practice, the new costs, refining charges borne by the aggregator or off-taker,5:23assay delays, and limited capacity at approved local refineries could squeeze the5:28same aggregators who brought 40 tons of previously informal gold into the system5:32last year.5:33If formal options become more expensive or slower than informal buyers, some gold5:38could leak back into smuggling channels and reverse the formalization gains.5:41The export figures show, if capacity holds, the state captures a larger share of the5:46$20 billion stream that pays for imports and debt.5:49The system will be tested between the 31 August contract amendment deadline and the5:53September enforcement start, then on whether Goldbaud can certify refining an assay5:57at volume without bottlenecks, whether the $1.7 billion annual loss pattern actually6:02ends with the stripped July transfer from the Bank of Ghana to Goldbaud, and whether6:06Ghana can convert a ban on shipping raw dore into real LBMA-grade output on the way6:11to the 2030 target.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗