Ghana’s GoldBod Model Emerges as Blueprint for Zambia’s $1.8bn Gold Ambition

Ghana’s bold reforms to formalise its artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector are gaining recognition beyond its borders, with Zambia now seeking to replicate the Ghanaian model as it targets up to $1.8 billion from its own small-scale gold industry.

The development is a significant endorsement of Ghana’s evolving approach to gold-sector governance and the strategic role of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) in bringing previously informal gold production into an organised, regulated and commercially viable system.

According to Africa Business Insider, Zambia’s state-controlled mining investment company, ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc, is looking to Ghana’s experience as it seeks to unlock the potential of Zambia’s artisanal gold sector.

ZCCM CEO Kakenenwa Muyangwa said formalising the industry could significantly increase the country’s officially recorded gold production and exports.

The comparison with Ghana is particularly striking. Zambia’s official gold exports in 2023 were valued at less than $128 million, while trade data showed that the United Arab Emirates alone reported importing nearly $1.8 billion worth of Zambian gold, with Hong Kong recording a further $108 million.

The disparity illustrates the enormous economic value that can remain outside official channels when gold production and trading are not effectively formalised.

It is precisely this challenge that Ghana has increasingly sought to address through GoldBod.

Ghana has historically faced similar difficulties, with significant quantities of artisanal and small-scale gold believed to have moved through informal channels and across porous borders.

A SwissAid study cited by Africa Business Insider estimated that Ghana’s reported gold exports fell short of partner-country import records by about 229 metric tonnes between 2019 and 2023, representing an estimated $11.4 billion.

GoldBod’s emergence has, therefore, marked an important shift in Ghana’s strategy where rather than allowing the informal market to remain a leakage point, the country is building a formal system capable of aggregating, regulating, financing, refining and exporting ASM gold.

Under the government’s new gold-sector reforms, GoldBod has been mandated to purchase substantial volumes of ASM gold and integrate them into a structured export pipeline, with the potential to generate more than $20 billion annually.

The significance goes beyond gold itself. By capturing gold through formal channels, Ghana is able to convert its mineral wealth into foreign exchange, strengthen the formal economy, support reserve accumulation and improve oversight of a sector that employs thousands of people.

Zambia’s decision to look to Ghana is thus a powerful indication that the GoldBod model is attracting continental attention.

For Ghana, it represents more than recognition of an institutional reform. It is evidence that a country can confront the longstanding challenges of informality, smuggling and value leakage in the gold sector by building systems that make formal participation commercially attractive.

As African gold-producing countries increasingly seek to retain greater value from their mineral resources, Ghana’s experience with GoldBod is emerging as an example of how stronger institutions and a structured gold market can turn previously lost economic value into national wealth.