Government to use blockchain-based tracking system to curb illegal gold exports

The Acting Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Sammy Gyamfi, has stated that the government is introducing a blockchain-based gold tracking system as part of its ongoing efforts to restructure the gold sector and curb illegal exports.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews and monitored by GhanaWeb Business, Sammy Gyamfi said the technology-driven approach is tied to the Gold Board Bill currently before Parliament.

The bill proposes the creation of a new Gold Board which would take charge of buying gold from small-scale miners, regulating pricing, and preventing smuggling.

He said Ghana has been losing around US$2 billion each year to gold smuggling, money that could otherwise support public investments.

“The current system is failing the country. With this new setup, every licensed miner will be registered in a national database, and every production batch will have a unique digital code. As the gold moves through the chain from miner to buyer to exporter, each transaction will be recorded instantly on a blockchain platform,” he stated.

According to him, pilot projects in selected mining communities have already begun, and the results have been encouraging.

The bill, if passed, will empower the Gold Board to be the sole buyer of gold from licensed small-scale miners.

This move would bring structure to a sector that has long suffered from fragmented oversight and multiple agencies with overlapping roles.

However, the approval of the bill will mark one of the first nationwide uses of blockchain technology in Ghana’s mineral sector.

SP/AE

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