Ghana has signed a landmark inter-agency agreement to strengthen anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls in its gold sector, stepping up efforts to curb financial crime risks as the country undergoes a critical mutual evaluation by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa.(GIABA).
The agreement, signed at a high-level ceremony at the Ministry of Finance, brings together key regulatory, law enforcement and intelligence institutions under a coordinated national strategy, with a particular focus on risks linked to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM)
Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem, who chaired the event, described the pact as a shift from planning to accountability. “Today marks a deliberate move from technical discussions to senior-level affirmation, consolidation, and ownership of agreed reforms,” he said. “Your presence reflects our shared commitment to a robust framework for combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing in the gold sector.”
The accord builds on the Gold-sector AML/CFT/PF Joint Action Plan, the product of more than a year of technical work. It commits signatory institutions, including the Bank of Ghana, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Ghana Gold Board, the Minerals Commission and the Office of the Registrar of Companies, to sustained action across three pillars: legal and regulatory reform; law enforcement and financial intelligence; and due diligence and beneficial ownership.
Ampem said the agreement was designed to extend beyond the current GIABA assessment. “We are jointly affirming that these reforms are nationally owned, institutionally embedded, and designed to endure beyond the Mutual Evaluation,” he said.
The pact is underpinned by several measures already in place, including the creation of a dedicated AML/CFT/PF desk at the Ghana Gold Board, the operationalisation of the Registrar of Companies’ beneficial ownership sanctions regime, which has begun penalising non-compliant gold firms, and the rollout of application programming interface integration to enable real-time data sharing between the Registrar and the Gold Board.
“This Communiqué provides clear evidence of inter-ministerial coordination and senior-level commitment, which are central to international assessments of effectiveness,” Ampem said. “More importantly, it establishes a framework for managing gold sector financial crime risks in a way that enhances revenue mobilisation, investor confidence, and sound economic governance.”
The deputy minister said the Ministry of Finance would retain oversight through its Mining and Industry Unit within the Real Sector Division, tasked with ensuring continuity and implementation of the reforms.
The UK-Ghana Gold Programme, which provided technical assistance to support inter-agency collaboration, was acknowledged for its role in the process. Ampem said the agreement “sends a strong and credible signal of Ghana’s resolve” to protect the integrity of the country’s gold sector.
