The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has directed all Self-Financing Aggregators (SFAs) to ensure that gold doré purchased under arrangements with approved offtakers is refined in Ghana before export, effective September 1, 2026.
The directive, contained in a notice issued by GoldBod, forms part of measures to strengthen local value addition and regulate the purchase, sale, refining and export of gold in Ghana.
Under the new requirement, no gold doré may be exported in its unrefined state from September 1. GoldBod said every offtake agreement or commercial arrangement between an SFA and an approved offtaker must expressly provide for the mandatory local refining of gold before export.
“No gold doré shall be exported in its unrefined state,” GoldBod stated in the notice.
The directive applies to all SFAs and approved offtakers and is to be read together with the Guidelines for the Onboarding of Offtakers and the Conduct of Transactions with Offtakers issued on July 13, 2026.
GoldBod said refining must be carried out only at a refinery approved or designated by the Board in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements. It also reserved the right to determine the refinery at which particular gold will be refined and issue additional operational directives governing the process.
The cost of refining will be borne by the SFA or approved offtaker, based on their commercial arrangements, and must be paid or otherwise settled before the refined gold is exported.
Existing offtake agreements and related commercial arrangements must also be amended by August 31, 2026, to incorporate the mandatory local refining requirement. GoldBod said it may request evidence of such amendments at any time.
From September 1, GoldBod will process export requests only after confirming that the gold has been refined in Ghana, that the applicable refining charges have been settled, and that all assay, regulatory, and export requirements have been met.
The Board said the directive forms part of the terms and conditions of SFA licences and warned that non-compliance, including the export or attempted export of unrefined gold doré, would constitute a breach of licence conditions.
“Failure to comply with this directive … may result in regulatory action by the GoldBod, including the refusal or suspension of export approvals, suspension or revocation of licences, administrative sanctions and/or any other enforcement action,” the Board said.
The measure is being implemented under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), which assigns GoldBod regulatory responsibilities for the purchase, sale, refining, value addition, and export of gold in Ghana.
The mandatory refining requirement places an additional compliance obligation on SFAs and their offtakers as the country seeks to retain more value from its gold production and strengthen oversight of gold exports.
