GoldBod Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi has mounted a strong defence of the Ghana Gold Board’s operating model, arguing that attempts to compare gold trading to cocoa marketing fundamentally misunderstand how the two commodities function.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Gyamfi said recent debates—particularly those suggesting a US$214 million loss—have relied on flawed comparisons that ignore the economic realities of gold production and trade.
At the centre of his argument is the difference in how producers are supported.
According to Gyamfi, cocoa farmers benefit from extensive state-backed interventions, including fertilisers, chemicals, rehabilitation programmes, and other incentives. These inputs, he explained, justify why cocoa beans are sometimes purchased at 30–40 percent discounts.
Gold mining, however, operates under an entirely different framework.
“The Gold Board does not provide fertilisers, chemicals, rehabilitation, or any price-support mechanism to miners,” Gyamfi noted. “So there is no justification to buy gold at a discount or to trade it the same way cocoa is traded.”
Beyond producer support, Gyamfi highlighted the physical and security differences between the two commodities.
While cocoa is bulky and difficult to move illicitly, gold is compact, high-value, and easily smuggled—factors that demand a different trading and pricing strategy.
“You don’t manage cocoa the way you manage gold,” he said. “When making comparisons, make sure you are comparing like with like—not apples with oranges.”
Turning to the widely circulated claims of a US$214 million loss, Gyamfi dismissed the reports as misleading and inconsistent with GoldBod’s financial records.
He revealed that based on unaudited management accounts, GoldBod generated over GH₵960 million in revenue in 2025, while total expenditure remained below GH₵120 million.
As a public institution, he clarified, GoldBod does not declare profits but income surpluses, adding that the Board is projected to announce a conservative surplus of between GH₵700 million and GH₵800 million for the year.
Gyamfi further cautioned against evaluating state-owned enterprises purely through a profit-and-loss lens.
“In assessing efficiency, you don’t look at cost alone,” he said. “Even that is assuming there are carrying costs—which, in this case, there aren’t.”
He contrasted GoldBod’s mandate with that of the Cocoa Board, noting that while COCOBOD often records losses, GoldBod was established primarily to generate foreign exchange and support the accumulation of Ghana’s gold reserves, not to function as a conventional commercial trader.
