Ghana Gold Board (Goldbod) has prohibited the export of raw gold from Ghana. The directive, announced in a compliance notice dated August 24, 2026, applies to Self-Financing Aggregators (SFAs) and their approved off-takers. Operators were given until August 31 to amend their existing commercial arrangements to comply with the new requirement. The new requirement takes effect on September 1.
The policy does not stop Ghana from exporting gold. Instead, affected gold doré must now be refined in Ghana before it receives approval for export.
Under the directive, every SFA must ensure that gold doré purchased under an arrangement with an approved off-taker is refined in Ghana before export.
GoldBod will not approve an export request for gold doré unless the gold has first been refined at a refinery approved or designated by the Board and the relevant regulatory requirements have been met.
The change affects unrefined artisanal gold doré exported under the arrangements covered by the directive.
From September 1, 2026, GoldBod will process relevant export applications only after confirming that the required conditions have been met.
These include confirmation that:
the gold has been refined in Ghana;
applicable refining charges have been paid or settled;
assay requirements have been met;
regulatory and export requirements have been satisfied; and
other applicable conditions have been fulfilled.
This means local refining is now part of the export approval process for gold covered by the directive.
The refining cost will be borne by the Self-Financing Aggregator or approved off-taker, depending on the terms of their commercial agreement.
For businesses involved in the trade, the cost of refining, processing time and the availability of local refinery capacity could therefore become important factors.
GoldBod has warned that exporting or attempting to export unrefined gold doré in breach of the directive would constitute a violation of the conditions of an SFA licence and could trigger regulatory actions.
The policy is aimed at increasing local value addition in Ghana's gold industry.
Under the previous arrangement, gold doré could leave Ghana and undergo further processing in another country. Requiring affected gold to be refined locally means more of the processing activity can take place within Ghana.
The government expects the policy to support the domestic refining industry and retain more economic activity from the country's gold production.
GoldBod's broader mandate includes the regulation of the purchase, sale, refining, value addition and export of gold in Ghana.
The effectiveness of the policy will depend partly on the capacity of Ghana's refineries, the cost of processing and how quickly businesses can adapt to the new requirements.