Sammy Gyamfi, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana GoldBod, has said President John Dramani Mahama wants Ghana to establish its own Gold Souk.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, the GoldBod CEO, said, “President Mahama wants us to have our own mini gold souk like Dubai has. Dubai does not have gold, but they have a gold souk where people trade in gold jewellery.
He wants us to create a golden kilometer and on that kilometre stretch of road, we will be selling only gold jewellery, so that if anyone comes to Ghana and wants to see our gold, they can be taken there”.
A Gold Souk is dedicated to trading gold jewellery, precious stones, and rare metals.
Sammy Gyamfi further clarified that the company made no financial contribution toward the organisation of the Women of Valour event in London.
The GoldBod CEO clarified that GoldBod was only listed as a partner and had intended to offer its products to attendees at the event at discounted prices.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, while there may have been a form of partnership, it did not involve any monetary sponsorship.
Sammy Gyamfi highlighted that any collaboration may have been limited to promotional arrangements, adding that any arrangement would involve offering discounts under themed campaigns like “Love Month” and “Ghana Month.”
Sammy Gyamfi clarified, “I have checked the records, and anybody can also come and check them. Goldbod didn’t contribute even GH¢1 to the Women of Valour event.
GoldBod Jewellery is a subsidiary of GoldBod. The managing director has designed a plan to sponsor an event, and I want the women attending to connect with our jewellery. If given the opportunity, I would market our jewellery to them”.
“I was pleased to learn about a partnership that didn’t require GoldBod Jewellery to provide financial support. In fact, they were not listed as a sponsor. I confirmed with GoldBod Jewellery, and they did not contribute any money to the programme,” he stated.
Sammy Gyamfi added, “We recently held a Love Month promotion where organisations could partner with us to offer special discounts on our jewellery. This is a type of partnership we are proud to facilitate. March was Ghana Month, and we will also be providing discounts for Heritage Month”.
“Some people mistakenly believed that money had exchanged hands, but that was not the case. I think it’s important for Ghanaians to support locally made products. The misunderstanding and resulting anger stemmed from incorrect information,” he added.
Also, Sammy Gyamfi has said claims by the NPP Minority that the Bank of Ghana is selling off the country’s gold reserves are politics and propaganda.
The Goldbod CEO stressed that Ghana’s gold has not been sold for consumption but has been reinvested for returns.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, part of Ghana’s gold reserves was converted into dollars and invested to earn returns.
Sammy Gyamfi explained, “When the NPP was leaving office, the reserves were approximately $9 billion. By the end of 2025, the NDC expects these reserves to be over $13 billion. These reserves include both gold and dollars.
“The general practice for middle-income countries is to keep about 20% of their reserves in gold. However, since gold prices can be volatile, the Bank of Ghana made the decision to sell some of its gold reserves and convert them into dollars.
“This strategy allows for investments yielding interest rates of 4–5%. Holding too much gold can be risky. The claims by the Minority that the Bank of Ghana is selling off Ghana’s gold reserves are purely political propaganda.
“We are not selling Ghana’s gold reserves to spend the proceeds. Instead, we converted the gold into dollars and invested them wisely. We do not plan to buy back the same gold but will replace it through a gold purchase programme. The gold was sold to Citibank in the USA and the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland to minimise financial risk,” he said.