KEY POINTS
- Ghana has banned exports of unrefined gold doré.
- Gold must now be refined locally before export.
- Violators risk licence suspension, revocation and other sanctions.
Ghana has introduced a major change to its gold export regime, banning the export of unrefined gold doré and requiring the metal to undergo local refining before it can be shipped out of the country.
The new directive, issued by the Ghana Gold Board, GoldBod, took effect on September 1, 2026, and applies to Self-Financing Aggregators (SFAs) operating under arrangements with approved gold Offtakers.
Under the new policy, gold doré purchased by SFAs must be refined in Ghana before GoldBod will approve any export request. The move is aimed at placing greater emphasis on local value addition and ensuring that more of the economic benefits generated by Ghana’s gold industry remain within the country.
GoldBod issued the directive on August 24 under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140).
The Board has made it clear that unrefined gold doré will no longer qualify for export approval under the arrangements covered by the directive. SFAs and their approved Offtakers must therefore ensure that gold is processed at a refinery approved or designated by GoldBod before it can be exported.
The new requirement effectively shifts local refining from an optional commercial arrangement to a compulsory stage of the gold export process.
GoldBod said export applications will only be processed after it confirms that the gold has been refined locally and that all relevant requirements have been satisfied.
Exporters Must Cover Refining Costs
Under the directive, the cost of refining will be borne by either the SFA or its approved Offtaker, depending on the terms of their commercial agreement.
However, GoldBod requires the applicable refining charges to be paid or otherwise settled before the refined gold is exported.
In addition to verifying that the gold has been refined, GoldBod will check that applicable refining charges have been settled and that the shipment complies with assay, regulatory and other export requirements.
This means exporters will have to meet the full compliance requirements before receiving approval to move refined gold outside Ghana.
GoldBod also gave affected operators a deadline to bring their existing commercial arrangements into line with the new policy.
SFAs were required to amend their existing offtake agreements and related commercial arrangements by August 31, 2026, to explicitly include the mandatory local refining requirement.
The Board may request documentary evidence showing that the agreements have been properly amended.
Going forward, contracts between SFAs and approved Offtakers must expressly provide for gold to be refined in Ghana before export.
