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| Ghana’s Gold Reserves Unsold |
10/1/2008 |
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Information reaching CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE indicates that Ghana has an impeccable 280.872 million (280,872, 474) gold ounces lying in the country’s soil.
This comes after a report pasted on Ghana web by one K.S. Garbrah said the government of Ghana had in 2007 quietly sold off the entire official gold reserves of the country quoting information from a World Gold Council report.
According to him, the World Gold Council was said to have gathered facts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, a source at the Central Bank says the majority of Ghana’s gold reserves had not been touched for 20 years.
“What even makes the publication untrue is that Newmont Gold Ghana Limited which began mining in 2006 and poured its first gold somewhere in July the same year has about 20 or more years to mine at the Ahafo mine,” the source added.
The same applies to the Obuasi mine which AngloGold Ashanti recently sated that it could mine for the next 15 years or far more.
“Beside other gold mines including Tarkwa and Damang which is operated by Goldfields Ghana Limited, Ghana has untapped gold mines in the northern part of the country, and the Western region among others.”
It will be recalled that the said writer noted that Ghana has since becoming a republic in 1960 maintained its official gold reserves.
The writer further said what was so amazing about the data was that despite the many political upheavals in Ghana’s history from 1960, Ghana maintained official gold reserves of five tonnes for almost three decades (1960-1977), even after Nkrumah’s overthrow.
Some of his analysis emphasized that Ghana maintained its gold reserves from Dr. Nkrumah’s regime through other governments to President Rawlings’s era.
However, the writer chastised the New Patriotic Party government saying since it took power in the year 2000, the nation’s official gold reserves which were 8.7 tonnes had declined considerably.
He opined that though Ghana subscribe to an $850 million bond which will actually cost over one billion to pay back, it now seems the government also for the first time in the 50 year history of Ghana completely and quietly sold off all of Ghana’s gold reserves.
He therefore demanded quick answers from the former Deputy Central Bank Governor, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who is now the running mate to NPP flagbearer, Nana Akufo Addo, the Central Bank Governor, Dr Paul Acquah and the late minister of Finance on what happened to our gold reserves.
Many market watchers described the report from K.S. Garbrah as a ploy to tarnish the hard won image of the former Deputy Governor whose presence at the Central Bank over the last six years has seen the nation’s financial sector being transformed to one of the best in Africa.
Ghana has seen a lot of financial sector reforms that has attracted several financial institutions from overseas to set up subsidiaries in Ghana.
More are coming as Access Bank of Nigeria and Islamic Bank of Saudi Arabia are said to open subsidiaries soon. So a careful analysis of Mr. Garbrah’s report shows that he has something up his sleeves to tarnish the image of the ruling NPP government which should not be so.
Ghana has abundant gold reserves some of which have not been touched while others which are being mined could take over 20 years or more before it gets finished.
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