The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has unveiled sweeping changes to the country's gold trading framework, announcing that all licensed gold buyers will be required to purchase gold at officially approved rates beginning July 1, 2026.

The new policy is designed to enhance transparency within the sector, eliminate pricing disparities, and strengthen confidence in Ghana's gold market.

In a statement issued on June 23, GoldBod revealed that it will no longer publish continuously fluctuating live gold prices. Instead, the Board will rely exclusively on the globally recognised London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Gold Price AM and PM benchmarks to determine local gold purchasing rates.

Under the revised system, two official purchase prices will be announced each trading day. The first will be released at 10:30 a.m. based on the LBMA Gold Price AM, while a second rate will be published at 3:00 p.m. using the LBMA Gold Price PM benchmark.

According to GoldBod, the applicable cedi value will be calculated by converting the international benchmark price using the Bank of Ghana's daily reference exchange rate.

The Board stated that these published rates will become the sole authorised prices for all licensed gold buyers, aggregators, self-financed aggregators and other approved operators within the gold value chain.

As a result, no licensed participant will be permitted to purchase gold at rates that differ from those announced by GoldBod.

The Board cautioned that any individual or company that disregards the approved pricing structure will be considered in breach of the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), and could face severe penalties.

Sanctions may include licence suspension or revocation, confiscation of illegally traded gold, criminal prosecution, and other administrative or civil penalties provided under the law.

To ensure strict compliance, GoldBod disclosed that dedicated monitoring and enforcement teams will be deployed across major mining and trading hubs nationwide.

The Board said the reforms were developed following consultations with key industry stakeholders and form part of broader efforts to promote fairness, responsible gold sourcing and a more structured and credible gold trading environment in Ghana.