Join the Harvard University Center for African Studies for Financing Africa’s Future: Innovation, Investment, and Inclusive Growth, a conversation with Sammy Gyamfi, Esq., CEO of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod). Using Ghana as a case study, the discussion will examine how African countries can better leverage natural resources, mobilize domestic capital, attract productive investment, and build more inclusive and resilient economies. The conversation will also consider the roles of public policy, innovation, entrepreneurship, research, and diaspora engagement in shaping long-term development.
Sammy Gyamfi, Esq. is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod). In this role, he leads efforts to strengthen Ghana’s gold trading framework, improve transparency and formalization within the sector, increase foreign-exchange inflows, and ensure that the country’s mineral wealth contributes more directly to national economic development. At Harvard, he will reflect on GoldBod’s progress, achievements, and challenges, while situating Ghana’s experience within broader questions about resource governance, development finance, and inclusive growth across Africa.
The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) was established to formalize and strengthen Ghana’s gold trading sector, reduce leakages and smuggling, and increase the contribution of gold revenues to national economic stability. According to official GoldBod data, its domestic gold purchasing and export strategy mobilized more than US$10.8 billion in foreign exchange from artisanal and small-scale mining gold exports in 2025. As GoldBod continues to pursue reserve accumulation, stronger oversight, and expanded gold purchasing, its experience offers a timely case for examining how African countries can use natural-resource wealth to support economic resilience, investment, and long-term prosperity.