Over $10 billion of Gold shipped out of Ghana unaccounted for – Report

Over $10 billion worth of Gold shipped out of Ghana between 2014 and 2016 unaccounted for, a report by the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas has said.

According to the Chairman of the Civil Society platform, Steve Manteaw, failure by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to track the actual amount of gold exported from Ghana resulted in the loss.

The findings of the report which was launched in Accra reveals that between January 2014 and January 2016, a total of 101,179 kilogrammes of gold was shipped out of Ghana to India alone without going through the necessary processes.

These together with other mineral exports are said to deny the state some significant revenue.

The report dubbed, “lifting the veil on the typologies and nature of corruption risks in Ghana’s mining oil and gas sector” seeks to inform the general public about the tendencies of corruption which is denying the country of the necessary funds it is expected from the extractive sector for development.

It also focused on the risk of corruption in the extractive industry and puts the spotlight on the strength and weaknesses in the regulation of the sector which are likely to be a high risk of corruption.

“When you look at our records here in Ghana, there has been a report of about $2 billion, the Swiss government reported something higher than that whiles the Dubai and Indian situation is about $7 billion, bringing all together is in excess of $10 billion unaccounted for,” Dr. Steve Manteaw said.

The report also reveals that in 2016 the Ghana Revenue Authority completed an additional audit assessment of Tullow oil dated 2011 to 2014 and raised significant outstanding payment of $27 million.

“While there is no evidence of corruption in relation to the delay, there is a high risk for companies to influence the delays by bribing tax officials,” Dr Manteaw said.

On the recently launched competitive bidding process for the oil block in the West Cape Three Points, the report criticized the government’s announcement of members of the Competitive tendering committee.

In conclusion, the report also provided a case study to illustrate the forms and nature of corruption risks in the extractive sector.