Mr. Sammy Gyamfi, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), has warned everyone involved in the nation’s gold trade that it is illegal to deal gold without a valid license from GoldBod beginning immediately.
The permits previously granted by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) have been canceled, he said.
He said the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), is now fully enforced and that the transitional period of the new gold trading legal regime is over during a press conference yesterday in Accra.
“If you are not licensed by the Ghana Gold Board, you are committing a crime if you buy or sell gold,” he emphasised.
Despite GoldBod’s initial gradual implementation strategy, Mr. Gyamfi clarified that the final, non-extendable deadline for license applications passed on June 21, 2025.
The CEO explained that even though the deadline has passed, people and companies can still apply for a license using their website portal, and their application will be taken into consideration.
“However, trading in gold without the license is strictly prohibited and punishable by law. According to Section 63 of Act 1140, offenders are liable to a fine of between 50,000 and 200,000 penalty units, or a prison term of five to 10 years, or both,” he said.
“This special unit, operating under national security protocols, has powers equivalent to police officers and will be deployed permanently to gold trading hubs nationwide; their mandate is to combat illegal gold trading, smuggling, and price manipulation,” he added.
He said that on July 8, 2025, the President would establish a special GoldBod Task Force to carry out routine sector inspections and task enforcement as part of enforcement operations.
According to Mr. Gyamfi, more than 300 applications for Tier One buyer licenses, 200 for Tier Two, and many aggregator categories have been received. Of these, more than 240 licenses have been accepted, and 123 have already been printed and distributed.
In order to finish the issue process, he advised all authorized applicants to pay the necessary licensing payments as soon as possible through Ghana.gov and to pick up their licenses at GoldBod headquarters with proper identification.
“Illegal gold traders are enemies of the state. Supporting GoldBod means supporting Ghana’s economic stability, forex reserves, and development,” he reiterated.
The CEO of GoldBod commended law-abiding businesspeople and reaffirmed that only Ghanaians were eligible for licenses, warning that foreigners who broke the law would face full prosecution rather than deportation.
When GoldBod’s website launches today, July 1, 2025, he urged the public to use the repository tab to confirm licensed sellers.
According to Mr. Gyamfi, the GoldBod initiative is a nationwide, nonpartisan endeavor to safeguard Ghana’s natural resources.
Source: newsthemegh.com