Ghana’s Gold for Reserves programme, designed to boost domestic gold purchases for the Bank of Ghana, is generating tension between private buyers and the state-backed apex aggregator, Bawa Rock Limited, according to policy analyst Bright Simons. Independent gold aggregators according to Bright Simons say they are disadvantaged by the programme’s current structure, which gives Bawa Rock a significant financial edge.
“The aggregator gets money from the Bank of Ghana. Is it interest-free? We say, yes, it’s interest-free. The self-finance aggregator gets money from their own banks. Is that interest-free? We know it’s not interest-free,” Simons said, highlighting the fundamental imbalance between government-supported and privately financed buyers.
Simons added that the competitive advantage allows Bawa Rock to operate with lower costs, potentially crowding out private aggregators from buying directly from small-scale miners and licensed sellers.
“You have someone that is sourcing money commercially, competing with someone who’s getting money from the government. Who will win?” he asked.
He also warned that Bawa Rock is acting more as a market competitor than a coordinating apex body, reducing opportunities for private players to participate. “They are telling us that right now… Bawa Rock… is competing with the self-finance aggregators. It’s not really necessarily buying from the self-finance aggregators,” Simons said.
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The analyst cautioned that without more transparency and support for private aggregators, the programme risks discouraging competition and private investment, potentially undermining its broader objective of strengthening Ghana’s reserves. Private buyers argue that while Bawa Rock enjoys interest-free financing, they must source loans at commercial rates, putting them at a persistent disadvantage.
Simons called for clearer rules and fairer market structures to ensure that the programme benefits the broader sector rather than concentrating power in a single state-backed entity. “If independent aggregators cannot compete, the system becomes less efficient, and trust in the programme may erode,” he said.
