Africa's largest gold producer to hedge prices as reserves hit $11.1 billion

Business Insider

6 days ago

Ghana is developing a plan to hedge its gold exports in a bid to safeguard the earnings that have strengthened its central bank's foreign reserves.
Ghana plans to hedge its gold exports to stabilize revenue, strengthening its international reserves.
The Bank of Ghana reports a rise in gold reserves to 32.99 tonnes as of June 2025, with significant annual export growth.
Improved trade surpluses and fiscal policies have strengthened the Ghanaian cedi, making it a top-performing global currency in 2025.
Ghana is developing a plan to hedge its gold exports in a bid to safeguard the earnings that have strengthened its central bank's foreign reserves, according to Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama.
Speaking in Accra, Asiama noted that rising gold production and favourable prices have significantly boosted the country's gross international reserves, which now stand at $11.1 billion, enough to cover 4.8 months of imports.
According to the Bank of Ghana, the country's gold reserves rose to 32.99 tonnes at the end of June 2025, up from 32.16 tonnes in May, reflecting a steady effort to build stronger foreign exchange buffers.
Ghana's gold exports jumped 76% year-on-year to $5.2 billion in the first four months through April, helping to widen the country's trade surplus to $4.1 billion, up from $759 million in the same period last year, Bloomberg reported.
This strong performance, combined with the government's ongoing fiscal consolidation efforts, has fueled a more than 40% rally in the cedi against the dollar in 2025, making it the second-best performing currency globally among those tracked by Bloomberg.
Inflation has also eased, reaching a three-year low of 18.4% in May, down from 21.2% in April thanks to a stronger currency and reduced import costs.
Regulatory framework for Crypto
Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama also revealed that the country is finalizing a regulatory framework to oversee cryptocurrency activities.
The move aims to bring digital asset platforms and exchanges under formal regulatory control, ensuring better oversight and investor protection.
'Crypto is here. The question is how do we manage it, not whether to ban it,' he said. ' The Bank is not anti-innovation. We only seek to ensure that digital financial products do not undermine confidence in the monetary system or facilitate illicit transactions.'
With this move, Ghana is positioning itself among a small but growing number of African nations proactively tackling the regulation of digital currencies.