Formular for Cedi appreciation not enough to eliminate ‘galamsey’ and curb resource accumulation drives globally

Key Message
1. The key message of this brief is that the formular for the appreciation of the Cedi is timely, realistic, and sustainable but not enough to eliminate ‘galmsey’ and curb resource accumulation drives globally. Timely because the bleeding from the currency precipitous fall has to be stopped in the light of subsistence becoming problematic Realistic because the landscape of Ghana is natured with Gold and this resource has been the traditional haven and store of valuables within the global community. The formular is sustainable regardless the invisible hands of the global market is twisted to favor some vested interests. As of today June 02, 2025, the cedi is trading at the interbank market 10.28 per $1 (Bank of Ghana data), and is projected to gain further with IMF tranche infusion. Given trends, it is safe to state that by the end of the calendar year, the cedi will trade for 1 ghc to a $1.

Formular is a Contributive Factor of the Surge in Gold Prices at the Global Commodity Market

2. Presently, there is a 40 percent surge in the price of gold compared to last year as it outshines other metals such as copper on the global commodity market (Ian Salisbury @ The Barrons Daily, May 30, 2025). The Bank of Ghana deliberate action of adopting stringent fiscal and monetary discipline entailing buying to boost reserves is not an isolated case as several central banks have done buying to set up a tear in prices. Such actions have met chaotic political scene elsewhere, (US tariff war,). In Ghana, the leadership action to reorganize the gold trading regime and subsequent performance of the team assigned the responsibility (see Ghanaweb June 01, 2025 comment on praise from the President on the CEO of GOLDBOD) buoyed this effort. Remarkably, the effort overall contributed to this surge in gold prices as the metal “traded at $33.13 an ounce, down 0.9 percent, and about 3 percent in April record” (Ibid, The Barron Daily). While it is possible stock prices could tumble at the commodity market triggering either investors fleeing risky assets or finding solace in gold as a traditional haven thereby jacking up prices, it is very clear Ghana has found a soluble antidote for strengthening its currency leading to falling inflation.

Steps to eliminate “galamsey” and curb global resource accumulation drives

3. An aspect of mining which has become an existential threat to the landscape, particularly given the dimension of global capital infusion to encourage the practice, is illegal mining known in local parlance as ‘galamsey’. This practice has rendered the bold actions by the Bank of Ghana, and the ruling regime’s GOLDBOD efforts seemingly inadequate because it requires the nation revisiting its roots – ‘Sankofa’ – by sharing power and governance between modern and traditional leadership. Some may ridicule or dismiss this suggestion on the grounds that some traditional rulers are forefront instigators of the actions and in several cases, even condoned the practice. But the suggestion here is premised on the Institution as a whole and not allowing the individual actions of certain Chiefs involvement to ignore the merit of the suggestion. The ruling administration can lead the way as part of its ongoing reset agenda which would tremendously strengthen both national and global credentials and contributions

About the Author: Dr. Kofi Anani is the Founder and Manager of the Blended Knowledge Solutions Network dedicated to utilizing blended knowledge -local and global for transformative development in Africa www.bksnetwork.org). He has spent more than two decades working in International Development. He has served for five years as the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Refugees Board (2015-2020). Prior to this assignment, he worked in Development Finance at the World Bank Group in Washington, DC, and Post-Conflict Reconstruction at the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. Dr. Anani is the author of the recent publication, Leadership in Independent Africa, Six Decades On: The Blended Representation Principle as a Cause for Afro Optimism, (London: Zed, 2024). Details of the views expressed here are contained in this publication. He can be reached at 233544611282 or [email protected]