Accra: Former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has announced that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme was conceived by then Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. The programme was aimed at strengthening Ghana's gold and foreign exchange reserves during a time of economic difficulty.
According to Ghana Web, Abu Jinapor made this statement while responding to remarks by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer about the programme in a meeting with the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners. Bawumia is credited with developing the programme as Ghana faced economic challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Abu Jinapor detailed that Dr. Bawumia, the head of the Economic Management Team at the time, held strategic discussions with stakeholders and tasked the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to engage further before formally launching the programme on June 17, 2021, at the Bank of Ghana's headquarters. This marked the first instance of the government purchasing gold domestically to boost reserves.
The Bank of Ghana, under this programme, bought gold locally from authorized aggregators and mining companies, compensating them in Ghana cedis at prevailing market rates. At the programme's inception, Ghana's gold reserves were 8.77 tonnes, and despite initial targets to double the reserves in five years, they had increased to 30.53 tonnes by December 2024.
The Ministry engaged the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners to further the programme's objectives. Following these engagements, the Ministry enacted the government's pre-emptive rights under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), issuing directives to the Minerals Commission and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) on November 23, 2023. These directives, later amended on January 4, 2024, compelled large scale mining companies to sell 20% of their refined gold to the Bank of Ghana in Ghana cedis prior to exporting the remainder.
Community Mining Schemes and licensed small-scale miners were also required to sell their gold to the government through the PMMC to prevent the purchase of illegally sourced gold. As a result, Ghana's gold exports hit a record US$11.6 billion in 2024, compared to US$7.6 billion in 2023 and US$6.6 billion in 2022.
Abu Jinapor also pointed out that the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANARAP) is essentially a rebranding of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme. He emphasized that this renamed policy led to the sale of a substantial portion of the gold accumulated under the original programme, contributing to the country's economic stability.