Goldbod's July to September Report and Matters Arising, SkobaOfficial writes

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Introduction

I am just reading that Goldbod has published its statutory quarterly report in line with the GHANA GOLD BOARD ACT, 2025 (ACT 1140). This spans July to September of 2025. While this has been applauded, pundits are raising queries with the following conspicuously missing lines from the report.


What Activists are Saying

They say these are supposed to be at the heart of every credible report of that nature:

1.There is no financial statement on gold board’s core mandate, the state-owned monopoly for gold trading, according to one Alfred Wood.

2.No reference is also made to how much funding the entity received for its operations. Per how Goldbod report its financial relationship with Bank of Ghana, it would appear as though the former is but a service provider or agent to the latter, which is even more curious.

3. There is no profit and loss analysis; to determine the viability or otherwise of the trade it is doing on our behalf. This is critical as the the profitability of BOG's gold purchasing program in the past, has always been a very contentious issue.

My Personal Observations

4. Personally, I thought the report could be more detailed and nuanced. This looks more like a PR reporting than a core business mandate operational report that details out critical financial/operational decision and position of Goldbod. For example, reference is made to some confiscations, including Gold doré, gold dust, mercury, firearms, mobile devices, and forged documents. However, the fine details regarding the value, frequency and culprits were conspicuously missing. Report of these kinds, should not miss out on some of these fine details.

5. I was equally unimpressed with Goldbod's traceability strategy. It looks more militant and manual than technology driven. They had promised to use geofencing and other technology to better drive responsible sourcing. Seeing that they are resorting to the use of manual and militant approach leaves me a bit disappointed. I am afraid, this won’t get us the results we are looking for.

6. Again, on traceability, Goldbod has recurrently denied buying gold from illegal miners, otherwise known as galamseyers. To better dispel fears that its gold was irresponsibly sourced, this report could have been a better opportunity for the Goldbod to list the names of its trading partners. Aside from stating the number of licenses issued and how much they have accumulated on same, the report makes no reference to a single license aggregator or small-scale artisanal miners for verification. This does not bode well for effective transparency.

7. Given that there is no rigorous profit and loss analysis, one is unable to determine how profitable their operations are. When gold prices are skyrocketing by the day and your volumes of purchases are increasing, your revenue numbers may look good, until the market tumbles. This is why I agree with activists that Goldbod must begin to account for the profitability or otherwise of its operations. Just pasting revenue numbers and shedding light on expenditure (which relates to salaries and good and services), doesn’t cut it for me. It is as if they interpret profit as the difference between their revenue and expenditure...This cannot be.

Conclusion

It is progressive that Goldbod is complying with its own ACT on reporting. This is critical for transparency and accountability. This notwithstanding, there should be more detail than we see with this current report. Alot more of details will help the public better appreciate the mandate of the Goldbod. Truly, the entity will benefit as this report becomes credible reference points to their critics. Again, as the fight against illegal mining intensifies, the advocacy for the entity to provide comprehensive report on the source of its gold would intensify. I hope they are ready for that heat. I am looking forward to the deployment of the GEO-fencing technology and other more technology-oriented approach to ensuring responsible sourcing.

SkobaCommunications

Marketing Communications Consultancy

0541842198

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