Ghana Presido, John Dramani Mahama, on Tuesday launch one task force wey security people go back to fight illegal gold business, as di kontri wey be Africa top gold producer wan recover di billions of dollars wey dem don lose to smuggling.

Dis task force na di first national anti-gold smuggling plan for Ghana. Before-before, di government don try clean artisanal mining, but dem no fit stop di illegal mining and di revenue wey dem dey lose, wey dey affect plenty African gold producers.

Dis year, Ghana don create new gold board wey dem dey call GoldBod to centralise gold trading. Dis one don make Ghana get record official exports of 55.7 metric tonnes of gold wey worth $5 billion for di first five months of 2025, na wetin Mahama talk when dem inaugurate di new task force.

“Dis na money wey no go return Ghana because traders for don carry am go keep di foreign exchange for outside,” Mahama tok.

To make people support di new anti-smuggling task force, wey go get soldiers and police officers, Mahama tok say informants go collect 10% of di value of di gold wey dem seize based on di tips wey dem give.

Ghana dey plan to bring gold traceability system for di whole kontri and move to refined gold exports by 2026, Mahama add. Dem go also try capture more value from di gold through one assay laboratory wey di International Organization for Standardization don certify to guarantee quality, plus one special manufacturing hub.

West African governments dey try capture more money from di way commodity prices dey rise. Di military-led nations dey use strong-hand policies like changing mining laws, seizing assets, and renegotiating contracts. But democracies like Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire dey follow balanced reforms like higher royalties and better revenue-sharing deals.

Gold price don jump 25% dis year so far, and e reach di peak of $3,500 per ounce for April, na wetin Reuters data show.