Ghana’s establishment of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) represents a major restructuring of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold trade, but the reform may not by itself address the underlying factors sustaining informality, according to a new study published in Resources Policy. The study, titled “Decades of artisanal and small-scale mining formalization in Ghana: …
Ghana Gold Board centralisation alone cannot end informal gold trade – Study
Ghana’s establishment of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) represents a major restructuring of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold trade, but the reform may not by itself address the underlying factors sustaining informality, according to a new study published in Resources Policy.
The study, titled “Decades of artisanal and small-scale mining formalization in Ghana: GoldBod reform and the political economy of gold trade governance,” examines Ghana’s more than three decades of efforts to formalise ASM through legislation, institutional reforms, enforcement and market-based interventions.
Authored by Kenneth Joseph Bansah, Jeffrey Emmanuel Akoto-Domey, Wisdom Edem Gomas hie and Lilian Owusu, the study assesses whether GoldBod addresses the political-economic conditions that have constrained previous formalisation efforts or whether some of those challenges could persist under the new system.
According to the researchers, GoldBod differs from earlier arrangements through the centralisation of gold purchasing and exports, strengthened regulatory authority, traceability mechanisms and foreign-exchange objectives.
However, the study cautions that centralisation alone does not eliminate the conditions that sustain informal gold markets.
The researchers applied three analytical tests to assess the reform: the Incentive Test, Trust and Legitimacy Test, and Enforcement Capacity Test.
The study argues that GoldBod’s effectiveness will depend on whether formal channels remain economically competitive for ASM operators, whether the institution establishes credibility and trust among mining-sector actors, and whether enforcement is applied consistently and remains resistant to political interference and elite capture.
The researchers conclude that GoldBod is changing the structure of Ghana’s gold-trade governance, but its contribution to ASM formalisation will remain conditional on how the underlying political-economy constraints are addressed.
