The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has come under the spotlight for making its detailed 2025 gold trading reports publicly available, with policy analyst Alfred Appiah describing the disclosure as an example of the level of transparency expected of state institutions.

In a post on X on September 22, Mr Appiah said the reports gave the public access to a weekly breakdown of funds provided by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the value of gold expected to be supplied, the actual value supplied and the resulting variances.

When I say state entities need to learn more about transparency from the new kid on the block, GoldBod, I really mean it.

The 2025 trading reports are publicly available again. You can get a weekly breakdown of how much money the Bank of Ghana provided to GoldBod, how much gold… pic.twitter.com/9I76v36DVy

— Alfred (@CallmeAlfredo) September 22, 2026

The detailed reports are available on GoldBod’s website and cover transactions between the Board and the central bank during 2025.

Mr Appiah said his review of the figures showed a variance of about GH¢3.8 billion, with a significant portion of the amount coming from inflows recorded towards the end of the year.

He further pointed out that the amount was also reflected in GoldBod’s audited financial statements as a payable to the BoG under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

GoldBod’s audited 2025 financial statements indeed show GH¢3.78 billion of its GH¢3.88 billion trade payables as amounts payable to the BoG under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

Weekly trail of public funds

The trade report provides transaction-level information showing the inflow from the BoG, the expected gold supply, the actual gold supplied and the variance.

The report's final figures show total inflows of about GH¢133.26 billion, expected gold supplies of GH¢132.29 billion and actual gold supplies valued at approximately GH¢128.55 billion, representing 80,762.55 kilogrammes of gold.

The detailed schedule also shows that the variances were not uniform throughout the year.

There were transactions where GoldBod supplied considerably more gold than expected, as well as others where actual supplies fell below the expected amounts.

For example, a transaction dated August 28 recorded an expected supply of about GH¢1.06 billion, but actual gold supplied was valued at approximately GH¢2.72 billion, resulting in a variance of about GH¢1.65 billion in favour of the supply.

Another September 3 transaction recorded an expected supply of about GH¢1.66 billion, against actual gold supplied valued at approximately GH¢2.97 billion.

‘State entities need to sit up’

It was the level of disclosure that prompted Mr Appiah's broader commentary on public-sector accountability.

“When I say state entities need to learn more about transparency from the new kid on the block, GoldBod, I really mean it,” he said.

He argued that the availability of the weekly trading information offered a useful standard for other public institutions, particularly those handling significant public resources.

“If you’re a state entity that has existed for many years and can’t even publish an annual report, you really need to sit up!” he said.

GoldBod has also published its audited financial statements for 2025, which reported total revenue of GH¢5.55 billion, an operational surplus of about GH¢909.71 million and an overall surplus of GH¢5.44 billion.

The publication of the trade reports comes against the background of GoldBod's evolving role in Ghana's domestic gold market.

 The Board was established under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), and became the statutory institution responsible for the domestic purchase and trading of artisanal and small-scale gold.

The Bank of Ghana has also explained that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme was established to strengthen the country's foreign exchange reserves, with GoldBod serving as the operational channel for the acquisition of artisanal and small-scale gold under the programme.

Below is the full report.