Accra: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced plans to establish a regulatory framework for the tokenisation of gold, intending to licence independent custodians for gold-backed tokens under the newly enacted Virtual Assets Service Providers Act. This initiative aims to promote financial inclusion and improve market control, with potential extensions into real estate, diamonds, bauxite, and other commodities.
According to Ghana Web, Mensah Thompson, the Deputy Director-General of SEC, shared insights into the regulatory approach for commodity-backed financing and the governance of tokenisation at The Money Summit 2026, organized by Business and Financial Times (B and FT). Thompson disclosed that the Commission is developing a post-custody framework mandating rigorous inspections for independent vault operators holding the physical gold backing digital tokens.
Thompson emphasized, "What we are building in terms of the rules and framework is to have a post-custody framework in place. And so we are going to be licencing some independent custodians who pretty much use the custody-guidelined assets." He highlighted the crucial role of commercial banks as custodians of both physical bullion and virtual tokens for institutional investors, including pension funds.
"The banks have two roles to play here. One as independent custodians. Two, as custody of the virtual tokens that are issued. It's a big opportunity for the banks," Thompson stated. He further asserted that vaulting systems, security architecture, and other infrastructure will be inspected before issuing any licences, ensuring robust physical and digital safeguards.
Thompson revealed that holders of gold tokens could soon secure bank loans by collateralising their digital assets. "For instance, if you have, let's say, 100 gold tokens worth maybe GHS100,000 and I don't want to sell now, I can collateralise those gold tokens and get financing from the bank," he explained.
The tokenisation initiative aims to extend beyond precious metals, with Thompson pointing to opportunities in real estate, minerals, and land. He noted, "There's a good opportunity to tokenise a number of assets, from gold to diamond to bauxite and other minerals. There's a good opportunity to tokenise real estate. So people can tokenise real estate, people can tokenise land. People can also tokenise other real-world assets."
Furthermore, tokenisation could democratize investments, allowing retail investors to own stakes in high-value assets. Thompson elaborated, "If you fractionalise it into maybe one gramme of gold, then ordinary Ghanaians with GHS10, GHS15, GHS20 can buy this gold."
A Gold Board representative, speaking for Director of Finance Dr. George Baah Danquah, highlighted tokenisation's potential to retain value within the domestic ecosystem, contrasting it with traditional gold exports. "When you have digital assets backed by a physical one, what it means is that as long as the digital one moves and travels, it's still within the ecosystem - unlike the traditional one, where we export it and reduce access to the commodity," he noted.