GoldBod has plugged $5bn gold revenue leakage — Dr Steve Manteaw
Co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Steve Manteaw, has defended the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) amid growing criticism from the Minority Caucus in Parliament.
He said GoldBod was established in a context where Ghana had suffered significant revenue losses from unaccounted gold exports.
According to Dr Manteaw, the institution has helped close a loophole that previously facilitated illicit financial flows in the country’s mining sector.
“Those who benefitted from the $5 billion loss of revenue, arising out of the unaccounted exports, are today at pain with the establishment of the GoldBod, because it has closed the loophole that facilitated the loss of gold revenue to the state,” he said in a social media post on Tuesday, August 18.
Dr Manteaw cited Ghana’s 2018 gold exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as an example of the revenue gap, saying the country exported gold worth $7 billion to the UAE but accounted for only $2 billion.
He said the unexplained $5 billion difference represented a significant loss of potential revenue to the state and argued that efforts to address such leakages should be supported.
His comments come amid a renewed dispute between the Minority and GoldBod over the institution’s operations and financial performance.
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has criticised GoldBod and cautioned of what he described as a looming crisis if concerns raised about the institution are not addressed.
GoldBod Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi has rejected the Minority’s criticism, particularly claims that the institution had made losses, citing its audited 2025 financial statements.
Dr Manteaw, however, stressed that the focus should be on strengthening measures to prevent illicit financial flows in the mining sector.
“Let's all support efforts to stem Illicit Financial Flows in our mining sector, and let's be mindful of the fact that these efforts will come at a cost,” he said.