Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has questioned whether the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) can effectively curb gold smuggling in the country, arguing that creating new institutions alone will not solve the problem.
In an interview on Monday, January 5, 2025, Mr. Simons explained that gold smuggling is largely driven by attempts to avoid taxes and other costs linked to formalising gold trade.
“GoldBod cannot solve smuggling. At its core, smuggling is simply a refusal to pay taxes to the government. Some people are determined to evade the costs of formalisation, such as taxes,” he said.
He noted that tackling smuggling requires broad reforms to improve efficiency within the system, rather than relying on new institutions.
“The only way to stop someone from smuggling gold is through major efficiency reforms. Institutional innovations like GoldBod cannot address the root of the problem. Where gaps exist, smuggling will continue,” he added.
Mr. Simons stressed that without fundamental changes to reduce inefficiencies and remove incentives for illegal activity, gold smuggling will persist regardless of new regulatory bodies.
He also pointed to data suggesting that smuggling remains a problem.
“We have access to gold trade data in Ghana that has not been disclosed by GoldBod. From what I have seen, there is still a discrepancy between what gold importers and exporters declare,” he said.
