Ghana is exploring how tokenization could make real-world assets such as gold available to a wider pool of investors, as the Securities and Exchange Commission tests the use of blockchain technology under the country’s new virtual asset regulatory framework.
The SEC is examining how the technology could be used to formalise parts of Ghana’s large, partly informal gold supply chain, Acting Director-General Dr James Klutse Avedzi said at the maiden African Virtual Assets Summit in Accra on November 2.
Tokenization involves converting ownership of, or rights to, an asset into digital tokens. This can allow an asset to be divided into smaller investment units, potentially giving investors access to opportunities that would otherwise require substantial capital.
Gold is one of the areas the SEC is looking at as it tests the technology. Avedzi said the Commission was deliberately examining whether blockchain could help formalise the country’s gold supply chain.
“Ghana is deliberately testing whether blockchain can formalize its large, partly informal gold supply chain,” he said.
The initiative forms part of a broader regulatory experiment involving 20 companies admitted into the SEC’s 12-month Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulatory Sandbox. Real-world asset tokenization is among the main activities being tested.
Under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act 1154), tokenization is an explicitly recognised licensing category, alongside virtual asset issuance and virtual asset exchange-traded funds.
The technology could offer investors another way to participate in assets such as commodities and other real-world holdings, while potentially giving businesses and asset owners new ways to structure investment opportunities.
But the market will need clear rules on what investors own when they purchase tokens and how those rights can be protected.
Avedzi said several legal questions surrounding real-world asset tokenization remain unresolved in Ghana. These include how tokenized assets would interact with property title laws, whether claims represented by tokens could be legally enforced and what rules should govern their resale on secondary markets.
The SEC is using the sandbox to gather information that will guide its licensing requirements, including capital requirements, custody standards, disclosure obligations and investor protection rules for tokenised securities.
The Commission initially admitted 11 companies into the programme on March 10, 2026, before increasing the number to 20 to cover the different virtual asset services regulated under the law.
Companies that satisfy the compliance requirements can apply for full licences after completing the sandbox period. The SEC expects the first cohort to graduate between late 2026 and early 2027.
