GoldBod Jewellery, in partnership with B-Light Jewellery, has opened a new showroom at the Takoradi Mall in the Western Region as part of efforts to bring locally crafted gold jewellery closer to consumers and promote value addition in Ghana’s gold industry.

The showroom, which was opened on Friday, October 2, forms part of GoldBod Jewellery’s strategy to retain more value from Ghana’s gold resources within the domestic economy through jewellery production, job creation and increased access to locally made gold ornaments.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Managing Director of GoldBod Jewellery, Gertrude Emefa Donkor, said the showroom represented more than a retail outlet, describing it as an avenue for economic empowerment and job creation.

“To many, this is just the opening of a showroom but to us, this is not just the opening of another showroom. It is the creation of more jobs for our youth, value retention within our borders and economic empowerment,” she said.

She said GoldBod Jewellery was taking steps to transform Ghana’s jewellery production landscape by investing in modern machinery, equipment, infrastructure and staff training.

According to her, the company was also constructing an ultramodern facility to increase its production capacity, meet growing domestic demand and position Ghanaian jewellery to compete in international markets.

“At GoldBod Jewellery, we are taking steps to change the entire face of our production where we are investing in machinery, modern equipment, modern infrastructure, as well as training of our staff,” she said.

“Currently, we are building an ultramodern facility so that we can scale up production to feed the domestic market, potentially penetrate the international market and be able to compete globally,” she added.

Ms Donkor said the company was also open to partnerships with corporate institutions to make its jewellery products more accessible to Ghanaians.

She said several corporate institutions had expressed interest in facilitating the purchase of GoldBod Jewellery products for their staff following a recent call for such partnerships.

The Takoradi showroom adds to GoldBod Jewellery’s efforts to deepen domestic value addition by moving beyond the export of gold in less processed forms and creating opportunities for the resource to generate additional economic benefits through local manufacturing and retail.

The new outlet is expected to provide customers in Takoradi and surrounding communities with access to locally crafted gold jewellery while creating a platform for Ghanaian jewellery craftsmanship and design to reach a wider market.

GoldBod Jewellery says value addition remains an important part of its approach to transforming Ghana’s gold industry, with a focus on building local capacity, creating employment and retaining a greater share of the economic benefits from the country’s gold resources within Ghana.