President John Mahama has disclosed that the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has sanitised the gold trading and export business, raking in $2.7 billion in the short span of its operations.

He added that the GoldBod has also strengthened the oversight responsibility in the export of the precious mineral, ensuring that Ghana benefits from the commodity.

Speaking at the Global Mining Summit in Accra, President Mahama described the GoldBod as key plank to ensuring maximum return from Ghana’s mineral resources.

“The Goldbod, which is a key plank in my administration strategy to reform the gold mining sector and ensure maximum benefit for Ghanaians for our gold resources, has taken off. In its short existence, it has sanitised the gold sector, ensuring maximum returns from our gold export,” he said.

Expressing optimism, President Mahama projected exponential growth in export receipts from the precious mineral by the end of the year.

“Ghana’s gold export earns the country $2.7 billion. Ghana’s gold export through the PMMC and Goldbod earns the country 2.7 billion dollars between January and April, and this figure is expected to increase exponentially throughout the year,” he projected.

He added that the GoldBod is planning to use the African Continental Free Trade Area to enhance intra-African trade of goods and minerals on the continent.

President Mahama stressed the need for African countries to deploy resources on the continent for the development of Africa.

“The world is transitioning. There is a surge in demand for critical minerals like lithium, graphite, nickel and other real earth minerals. Ghana is ready to play a central role. We are establishing policy; legal and investment frameworks to explore and develop critical mineral reserves”, he said.