Bawa Rock Incorporated In 2015 Fully Licensed to Trade in Gold
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has publicly affirmed that Bawa Rock Company Limited is a legally incorporated and fully registered gold trading company in Ghana, dismissing recent claims that it lacks registration or proper licensing.
Legal Standing and History of Bawa Rock
According to Mr. Gyamfi, Bawa Rock was incorporated under Ghanaian law on January 15, 2015, with precious mineral trading — including gold — listed among its principal business activities.
He underscored that the company has traded in gold for years and has renewed its gold trading licence annually since it was first granted by the now-defunct Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) in 2016.
Mr. Gyamfi described as “false and misleading” assertions suggesting Bawa Rock is a recently created or unlicensed “mushroom” company with no meaningful history in Ghana’s gold sector, noting instead that it has long been involved in the precious minerals trade.
Role Within GoldBod’s Licensing Framework
The clarification comes against the backdrop of public debate over the GoldBod’s licensing scheme, introduced in 2025 when Parliament passed the GoldBod Act to centralise and regulate Ghana’s gold buying, assaying, selling and export processes. GoldBod operates with a tiered licensing system for gold buyers, including small-scale buyers, larger tier buyers, self-financing aggregators, and aggregators — each authorised under law to purchase gold from licensed artisanal and small-scale miners.
In 2025, Bawa Rock was reported to be the only company that met the eligibility criteria to receive an aggregator licence under GoldBod’s first licensing cycle, out of more than 30 applicants for that category.
Political and Public Scrutiny
Despite these clarifications, members of the Minority have raised concerns about the implications of licensing a single aggregator to handle artisanal gold purchases nationwide — a structure they argue may reduce competition, transparency and fair pricing in a sector historically served by multiple licensed buyers.
Mr. Gyamfi’s statement seeks to reassure the public and industry stakeholders that Bawa Rock is legally incorporated and authorised to trade in gold, and that GoldBod’s licensing decisions comply with existing regulatory requirements — even as debate continues over the governance and structure of Ghana’s evolving gold trading framework.