By: Grace Zigah
A policy think tank, Africa Policy Lens (APL), has intensified calls for transparency and accountability over the Bank of Ghana’s controversial decision to divest a significant portion of the country’s gold reserves in late 2025.
The demand follows a press conference held in Accra where officials of the organisation raised concerns about the timing, scale and policy rationale behind the transaction, which has since become a subject of growing public and parliamentary interest.
Briefing journalists, APL fellow Engineer Wisdom Gomashie said the think tank had “serious reservations” about the decision to sell nearly half of the gold holdings within a short period, particularly at a time when global gold prices were reaching historic highs and central banks around the world were actively accumulating the precious metal.
According to him, the decision carries significant implications for Ghana’s monetary stability and reserve management policy, and therefore requires full public disclosure.
The controversy comes against the backdrop of the efforts in recent years to strengthen its external reserves through the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP), which was introduced by the Bank of Ghana in 2021.
The initiative was designed to diversify the country’s reserve assets, reduce reliance on foreign currencies and support the stability of the Ghanaian cedi.
Through the programme, the Central Bank steadily increased its gold holdings from about 8.74 tonnes in 2021 to 30.53 tonnes by the end of 2024, before rising further to approximately 38.04 tonnes by October 2025.
However, data reviewed by APL indicates that in the final quarter of 2025, the gold reserves dropped sharply by about 18 to 19.4 tonnes within a three-month period. The Bank of Ghana has maintained that the development was not a loss but rather a routine conversion of gold assets into foreign exchange instruments as part of standard reserve management practices.
According to the Central Bank, the proceeds from the transactions were reinvested into high-quality and liquid foreign assets under the guidance of external fund managers.
Despite this explanation, APL believes the decision appears inconsistent with prevailing global trends. The organisation cited data from the World Gold Council indicating that between 2022 and 2025, central banks worldwide purchased more than 4,000 tonnes of gold in what analysts describe as the strongest accumulation cycle in modern history.
Countries such as China, Poland, Turkey, Tanzania, Kenya and Brazil significantly expanded their gold reserves during the same period amid growing geopolitical uncertainty and declining confidence in the U.S. dollar.
APL also noted that global gold demand in 2025 approached 5,000 tonnes, with prices recording more than 50 all-time highs during the year.
According to the think tank, the divestment reportedly occurred within a price range of about US$3,900 to US$4,200 per ounce, yet authorities have since indicated plans to rebuild reserves at prices projected to exceed US$5,000 per ounce.
APL argues that such timing could potentially cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars in replacement value if the reserves are repurchased at higher market prices.
Engineer Gomashie further questioned the Central Bank’s explanation that the sale was part of an effort to “rebalance reserves” in line with a global benchmark of maintaining between 20 and 25 percent of reserves in gold.
He pointed out that many advanced economies—including the United States, Germany, Italy and the broader Eurozone—maintain significantly higher gold ratios, in some cases exceeding 60 to 80 percent of their reserve portfolios.
The think tank also expressed concern over what it describes as policy inconsistency following the introduction of the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP).
According to APL, the new policy appears to mirror the objectives of the earlier Domestic Gold Purchase Programme introduced by the previous administration through ideas conceived by the former Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, raising questions about whether the shift represents a genuine policy change or merely a rebranding of an existing initiative in the midst of growing controversy.
