The Akufo-Addo-led NPP government’s quest to digitalise every facet of the Ghanaian economy keeps expanding by the day.
The latest is its decision to digitalise the National Assay Centre with an entirely new digitalised National Assay Laboratory situated at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra.
Vice President Bawumia unveiled the state-of-the-art laboratory which is operated by the Precious Minerals Marketing Company Limited (PMMC), the organisation established with the responsibility for the purchase and marketing of Ghana’s mineral resources.
This will enable the PMMC to produce computer-generated Assay Certificates with distinct security features which will make it difficult for fraudsters to forge them to facilitate their elaborate gold scams.
Apart from that, Dr. Bawumia who performed the unveiling ceremony said the facility will also aid PMMC, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Bank of Ghana (BoG), and other relevant state institutions to obtain real-time data on gold exports and generate varied reports on gold exports which will help in effective national economic planning and curb corruption in the mineral resource trade.
Since the commencement of the National Assay Programme in 2017 till date, the PMMC has been able to assay 18 million ounces of gold at an estimated value of $27 billion with the artisanal small-scale mining sector accounting for 6.6 million ounces valued at $9.2 billion, while the large-scale sector accounted for 11.3 million ounces valued at $ 17.9 billion.
The new digitalised laboratory is fitted with modern fire assay equipment and will soon develop a traceability system to track the chain of custody of gold ore right from the producing miner to its final destination.
Vice President Bawumia said the digitalised assay laboratory will put Ghana on the global map as a credible, responsible source of gold and contribute to the President’s vision of making the country a potent and sustainable mineral hub in Africa.
He described the feat chalked by the PMMC as remarkable since it will help promote accountability and transparency in gold exports.
That, according to him will go a long way to curb gold smuggling and other corrupt practices in the gold export trade.
He said the Akufo-Addo-led government was transforming the public sector through digitisation to create jobs for the teeming youth, boost productivity and engender wealth creation.
He thus assured of the government’s commitment to supporting both public and private sector institutions that intend to digitalise their operations.
Managing Director of PMMC, Nana Akwasi Awuah said the coming into effect of the digitalised laboratory would help check and verify data on gold exports and address disparities in the commodity trade records, particularly gold exports between Ghana and its export destination countries.
He said the PMMC was inspired by the government’s digitisation drive and, thus, reviewed its assay operations in 2020 to digitise its assay programme.
Therefore, in 2021 the PMMC’s National Assay Laboratory went digital which enabled it to produce computer-generated Assay Certificates with distinct security features and made it difficult for fraudsters to forge them to facilitate their gold scams.
Nana Awuah said access to the dashboard of the digitised assay laboratory had already been granted to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and his deputy ministers and access would soon be extended to the President as the constitutional trustee of Ghana’s precious minerals and to the Vice President who headed the government’s economic management team.
Other government officials that would have access to the assay platform include the Minister of Finance, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority as well as the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission.
He said although in the past couple of years gold export figures declined due to the government’s three per cent withholding tax on gold export, however, the export figures had begun picking up since the beginning of this year with a modern fire assay equipment and will soon develop a traceability system to track the chain of custody of gold ore right from the producing miner to its final destination.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent