Sammy Gyamfi, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), has announced that the country is finalising an agreement to establish one of the largest gold refineries on the planet — a development he says will redefine Ghana’s role in the global precious metals trade.
Speaking before members of the National House of Chiefs in the Ashanti Region on Friday, May 29, Gyamfi revealed that the proposed facility will boast a processing capacity of 600 tonnes — a figure that would place it among the most powerful gold refining operations not just on the continent, but in the world.
“We are in the process of signing a new agreement that will see to the establishment of what is going to be one of the biggest refineries on the planet,” he told the assembled chiefs.
The ambition, however, stretches well beyond Ghana’s own gold output. Gyamfi made clear that the refinery is being designed with a regional mandate in mind — one that could attract raw gold from neighbouring countries including Burkina Faso and Togo, consolidating West Africa’s refining capacity under one roof on Ghanaian soil.
“It will refine all the gold we produce here. It can also refine gold from Burkina Faso, Togo, and other places,” he said. “The idea is to make Ghana a hub for gold refinery.”
Gyamfi outlined a concrete timeline for the project. A sod-cutting ceremony is expected to take place before the end of 2026, with full completion targeted for 2027. The relatively tight construction window underscores the urgency with which the government is approaching the initiative.
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The announcement is the latest and most ambitious signal yet of Ghana’s broader push to move up the gold value chain — from raw extraction to refined output. For decades, Ghana has been among Africa’s top gold producers, yet much of the value generated from that wealth has historically left the country in unprocessed form, with refining and premium pricing captured elsewhere.
A 600-tonne refinery, if delivered on schedule, would fundamentally alter that equation. It would give Ghana the infrastructure to process its own gold domestically, attract output from across the sub-region, and command greater influence in international gold markets.
For a government that has staked significant political capital on GoldBod as a vehicle for economic transformation, the proposed refinery represents the clearest statement yet of what that transformation could look like in practice.