This is to allow the gold miners and traders to deal directly with the PMMC, which is the sole national assayer.

This is also to ensure that the precious metal is not smuggled.

The Managing Director of the company, Nana Akwasi Awuah, said setting up the Bole office will assist women in mining communities such as Tinga, Banda Nkwanta, Dakrupe and Dollar Power, among others.

“You may have noticed that PMMC has started expanding. Hitherto, PMMC was just this building which you and I sit in and was situated in Accra.

Yet, we are mandated to buy gold from small-scale miners.

This gold that we are talking about is not mined in Accra, yet PMMC had absolutely no presence in the mining communities across the country.

For this reason, what we have embarked on is to set up external offices in the mining communities,” Mr Akwasi said in an interview with the Daily Graphic. 

Trading hub

“We started with Kumasi, which is a major gold trading hub.

Beyond Kumasi, we have also established one in Tarkwa, which is also another significant trading hub for precious metals, particularly gold, and then in very recent times, we have also set up one in Bole in the Savannah Region.

 Bole is very dear and strategic to us because when we engaged with the stakeholders, we realised or observed that a lot of the gold that was being mined up north was bought and smuggled through our neighbours in Burkina Faso.

“For that reason, we took the strategic decision to set up an external office in Bole to allow miners and traders to deal directly with the PMMC,” he added.

He added that other areas across the country are being considered for the setting up of PMMC offices, and stressed that this will go a long way to deal directly with the gold miners and traders, and for that matter, will, at the end of the day, secure more gold for government’s Gold-4-Oil policy, which PMMC has been given the mandate to buy for the Central Bank.

“It is a mandate that was given to PMMC to assist in the procurement of gold to support and sustain the Gold-4-Oil programme and I am happy to say that we have been able to discharge that mandate creditably and dutifully.

 As we speak, we have been able to support the Bank of Ghana in procuring gold to meet the demands of oil import and so far.

 Everything has gone on well to the point that today, we see the benefits of that programme, which are manifest in the stabilisation of the currency, the reduction or stabilisation in fuel prices, as well as its attendant effects in terms of prices of goods and services, generally.

According to the MD, PMMC has been very instrumental in the implementation and sustenance of the Gold-4-Oil Programme.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to resolve a national issue which was almost getting out of hand at the time and we look forward to engaging with all the stakeholders who are involved in this Gold-4-Oil programme so that we can take it further than just a Gold-4-Oil deal”.

Showrooms

Nana Akwasi Awuah was quick to add that apart from the office setups, the company has also expanded its jewellery outlets/showrooms, registering its presence at East Legon, Osu, Tema and Spintex, as well as its Head Office at the Diamond House for Accra; Adum, Kumasi; and one on the KNUST campus.

He said the company plans to establish more outlets in other regions through a franchised arrangement.

“This is because we have had calls from people who are telling us that we should come to their regions since PMMC is a trusted name.

Therefore, we want to do that, but through a franchised arrangement,” he added.