An Associate Professor of Finance at Andrews University in the US has urged Ghana to urgently establish a Gold Stabilization Fund to protect the economy against future shocks from falling gold prices.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, Prof. William Kwasi Peprah said Ghana’s new Gold Board framework is a good idea but warned that, without a dedicated stabilization account, the country could face serious difficulties when the current price boom cools.
“The gold board idea is very good,” he said, adding that if the structure is to succeed, Ghana must take lessons from existing commodity stabilization models.
“As I talked about the commodity stabilization account… the one that exists is a cocoa one, and we also have one for petroleum. Exactly. If the gold board will work, we need another stabilization account for the gold.”
Prof. Peprah explained that gold prices are being driven up by global uncertainty and investor behaviour, and that Ghana should not assume that high prices will persist.
He noted that gold is traded globally from three key perspectives: fear, inflation, and currency hedging.
“We currently have fear… so many things happening in the world which makes investors uncertain,” he said, arguing that this uncertainty is driving gold prices sharply upward.
He also linked the trend to inflation expectations and currency movements. “We’ve noticed that the US dollar is devaluing, and that’s why we see investors moving into gold.”
While he described Ghana’s law on the Gold Board as sound, he cautioned that the real test lies in implementation.
“To me, the law is good; the operationalization is where we must watch it carefully,” he said.
Prof. Peprah said the current period should be treated as a rare opportunity to save and prepare.
“So now that we are having this windfall, we should be able to establish another stabilization fund purposely for gold, to put in that money to guard against… that will come in.”
He advised that proceeds from gold sales should be used not only for immediate balance-of-payments support but also for future stability.
“Whatever amount of gold sales that is coming that we are putting in our balance of payment account, and we create that fund just for gold,” he said, explaining that the fund would help Ghana support the industry and the economy when prices fall.
He also welcomed efforts to add value locally. “It’s good. We are doing a refinery to add on value,” he said, but insisted that a stabilisation fund remains essential.
Prof. Peprah further raised concerns about the Gold Boardis financing, warning that it must not become another struggling commodity institution. “The financing model for the gold board also needs to be looked at a little bit,” he said.
He noted that the Gold Board has relied on government support, but that the promised funds have not been fully disbursed.
“It has raised, getting money from the government of Ghana, which we know the amount they promised were not fully released in 2025,” he said.
He also noted that the Bank of Ghana is expected to exit financing for the gold trade, making it urgent for the Gold Board to adopt sustainable funding options.
“Bank of Ghana is going to exit from financing the gold trade,” he said.
Prof. Peprah suggested that the law already provides an alternative approach. “It allows them to take money in advance from whoever needs gold, and then be able to give them the gold,” he said.
He stressed that Ghana must not confuse a revolving fund with a stabilization fund.
“Gold board, they have a revolving fund. Revolving fund account is not the same as stabilization fund account,” he said.
He warned that if Ghana fails to plan now, the country could be exposed when prices eventually decline. “If we fail on gold… our trade balance will move into a very struggling position,” he said.
