BY Issah Olegor
In the midst of rising political tensions over the reported $214 million loss under the Bank of Ghana’s Gold-for-Reserves (G4R) programme, GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi has responded to claims by the Minority Caucus, calling their assertions “uninformed and unfounded” while providing detailed historical context on the programme’s financial performance.
In a statement released over the festive period, Sammy Gyamfi confirmed that he will provide a full clarification of the issues surrounding the IMF’s reported losses on Monday, January 5, 2026. Ahead of that, he offered a preliminary breakdown of the audited and unaudited losses incurred under the Bank of Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale gold purchase programmes, including both G4R and the now-discontinued Gold-for-Oil (G4O) initiative.
According to Sammy Gyamfi:
2023 Audited Losses: G4O gold component – GHS 1.18 billion; G4R – GHS 973 million; Total – GHS 2.15 billion.
2024 Audited Losses: G4O gold component – GHS 667.79 million; G4R – GHS 4.18 billion; Total – GHS 4.84 billion.
2025 Unaudited Losses: G4O – discontinued; G4R – approximately GHS 2.3 billion ($214 million) from January to September, per the IMF.
Sammy Gyamfi pointed out what he described as a political paradox: the NPP, led by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, is now calling for a parliamentary probe into the GoldBod operations over alleged 2025 losses, even though under their own administration (2023–2024) the Bank of Ghana recorded cumulative losses of over GHS 7 billion from the same programmes.
He further highlighted macroeconomic indicators to underscore his point. While losses during the NPP years contributed to a cumulative cedi depreciation of 27.8% in 2023 and 19.2% in 2022, with inflation rates of 22.3% and 23.8% respectively, the current 2025 period shows a contrasting picture.
Despite the $214 million reported loss:
Inflation has declined for 11 consecutive months, falling from 23.8% to 6.3%.
The Ghana cedi has appreciated cumulatively by over 35% against the U.S. dollar, marking the first sustained appreciation since 2007.
Sammy Gyamfi described this economic turnaround as evidence that the BoG, in collaboration with GoldBod, has significantly reduced losses while strengthening the currency and controlling inflation.
“Now in 2025, the NPP is complaining that losses have been reduced to GHS 3.3 billion, and yet macroeconomic stability is improving. What a paradox!” he stated.
He added that while the Minority has requested a probe, GoldBod welcomes the investigation, emphasizing that transparency and accountability remain core principles of the programme.
The CEO also used the statement to push back against criticisms of GoldBod, stating that “JANDAM can never win,” asserting confidence that forthcoming clarifications will vindicate the institution’s management of the gold purchase programmes.
The Gold-for-Reserves initiative, initially established to strengthen the foreign reserves and reduce reliance on foreign currency borrowing, has become a central point of political debate, with both sides using historical and current financial data to support their narratives.
