GoldBod Issues New Guidelines for Gold Aggregators and Offtakers 

The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has issued new directives to all Self-Financing Aggregators (SFAs) on the onboarding of Offtakers and the conduct of gold trading and export transactions.

In a public notice, GoldBod said the guidelines are being implemented pursuant to the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025, Act 1140, and are aimed at ensuring integrity, accountability, and transparency in the purchase, sale and export of gold.

Under the new onboarding process, SFAs are required to submit details of any proposed Offtaker to GoldBod for Know-Your-Customer, Anti-Money Laundering and financial due diligence checks before any engagement.

GoldBod will then conduct regulatory and risk assessments to determine the suitability of the proposed Offtaker.

Only Offtakers that satisfy GoldBod’s due diligence requirements will be cleared to proceed.

After clearance, the SFA must submit a formal application to GoldBod for approval to transact business, together with a draft copy of the proposed offtake agreement.

Where approval is granted, GoldBod will issue written conditions specifying operational requirements, SFA obligations, and other terms governing the transaction.

For transactions, the notice states that approved Offtakers must remit foreign currency purchase funds in line with GoldBod’s trading conditions.

Upon confirmation of receipt of FX inflows, and subject to the applicable Bank of Ghana Reference Rate, GoldBod will convert and transfer the Ghana Cedi equivalent into the SFA’s designated bank account.

The SFA is then required to acknowledge receipt of the converted funds within 24 hours, with a copy to GoldBod, and proceed to purchase gold locally in strict compliance with GoldBod’s pricing regime and regulations.

After aggregating the purchased gold, the SFA must submit an export request to GoldBod.

The Board will conduct the necessary assay and verify receipt of FX inflows before facilitating export to the approved Offtaker.

SFAs will be responsible for all applicable GoldBod assay and regulatory fees, as well as logistics, freight, insurance and other export-related costs.

GoldBod has also clarified that its role in the process is strictly regulatory and administrative.

The Board said it is not a party to any financing arrangement, purchase agreement, sales contract, export contract or payment arrangement between an SFA and an Offtaker, and does not guarantee the financial standing, payment obligations, supply commitments or commercial outcome of any transaction.

Furthermore, each SFA has been asked to indemnify and hold GoldBod harmless against any claims, liabilities, losses or disputes arising from its commercial arrangements with Offtakers.

GoldBod stated that it will not be liable for any default, non-payment, delay, fraud, insolvency or breach of contract by the parties.

The Board warned that the notice forms part of the terms and conditions of SFA licences. Compliance is mandatory, and any breach may attract sanctions under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 and the licence term.

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