Africa Policy Lens demands full disclosure on gold divestment

Policy think tank, Africa Policy Lens (APL), has intensified public scrutiny of the Bank of Ghana’s controversial divestment of nearly half of the country’s gold reserves in late 2025, following a well-attended press conference held in Accra yesterday.

Addressing journalists, Engineer Gomashie, a fellow at APL, said the organisation had “serious reservations” about both the timing and scale of the gold transactions, particularly against the backdrop of soaring global gold prices and unprecedented central bank accumulation in recent years.

At the press conference, APL announced that it had formally submitted a Right to Information (RTI) request to the central bank, seeking detailed disclosures on 16 key aspects of the gold divestment.

These include the quantities sold, pricing benchmarks used, identities of buyers, the structure of the transactions, and how the proceeds were deployed.

“The public deserves clarity,” APL insisted.

Gomashie described the reserve sale as “a decision with far-reaching monetary implications,” and called for transparency to restore public confidence.

He argued that while Ghana was divesting close to 19.4 tonnes of gold within three months, many central banks around the world, including those in China, Poland, Turkey, Tanzania, Kenya, and Brazil were aggressively increasing their gold reserves.

Citing data from the World Gold Council, APL said global gold demand in 2025 reached nearly 5,000 tonnes, with the commodity recording more than 50 all-time price highs during the year.

“This was not a period when central banks were selling this was when the world was buying,” Gomashie stated.

APL also questioned why the Bank of Ghana would sell gold at an average market range of US$3,900 to US$4,200 per ounce, only to later announce plans to rebuild reserves at prices exceeding US$5,000 per ounce.

According to the think tank, such timing could cost the nation hundreds of millions of dollars in replacement value.

Questions over reserve policy and governance

At the press conference, APL also scrutinised the Bank of Ghana’s explanation that the divestment was a routine effort to “rebalance reserves” and reduce gold exposure in line with an alleged global benchmark of 20–25 percent.

The think tank challenged this benchmark, citing figures showing that several advanced economies including the United States, Germany, Italy, and the Eurozone hold between 60 and 80 percent of their reserves in gold.

“Which peers was the Bank comparing Ghana to?” Gomashie asked.

“And did any of those peers sell nearly half of their holdings in one quarter?”

APL further raised concerns about the subsequent policy shift from the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP) to the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP) a move the organisation says raises questions about policy coherence.

Call for parliamentary probe

During the press conference, APL called for a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry into:

the US$214 million losses recorded under the Gold4Reserves programme and

the fourth-quarter 2025 divestment of 19.4 tonnes of gold.

The organisation is urging Parliament to determine whether:

the Bank of Ghana Board approved the transactions,

the Presidency and Cabinet were formally notified,

the pricing mechanisms protected Ghana’s interests, and

the sale complied with international best practices for reserve management.

Awaiting BoG response

APL said it expects the central bank to respond within the statutory timeframe prescribed under the Right to Information Act.

“This matter concerns national assets,” Mr Gomashie emphasised. “Ghanaians must know what was sold, to whom, why, and what the country gained — or lost.”

The Bank of Ghana has not yet publicly responded to either the press conference or the RTI request.

Did you know that there is a fort in Ghana that was not built for slavery? And did you know that it is in Elmina? Watch the story about Fort Jago here: