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Claim: The Ghana GoldBod Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sammy Gyamfi, has alleged that $1 was selling at GHȼ16 by the end of December 2024.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s investigations showed that the exchange rate by December 2024 was not $1 to GHȼ16 as Sammy alleged. According to the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the exchange rate as of Dec. 31, 2024, was $1 to GHȼ14.7174. Also, $1 sold at GHȼ14.7574 on Jan. 6, 2025, the last day of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government.”
Full Text
The Ghana GoldBod Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sammy Gyamfi, has alleged that $1 was selling at GHȼ16 by the end of December 2024.
He responded to critics who said the cedi’s performance against the U.S. dollar was due to the country’s gold reserves.
Bloomberg describes Ghana’s cedi as the world’s best-performing currency, with $1 selling at GHȼ12.6063 as of May 14, 2025.
Sammy explained, “The cedi is appreciating today, because of the significant surge in dollar inflows on the back of unprecedented gold exports. This has increased the supply of dollars in the market to meet and exceed demand.”
He says, “If 30 tonnes of gold reserves under the NPP could not reduce the dollar rate to below 16 cedis, then 31 tonnes of gold reserves cannot magically reduce the dollar rate to 13.2 cedis.”
Although Ghana’s gold reserve has increased marginally, Sammy said that could not be why the cedi performs better globally.
“By the end of December 2024, our gold reserves at the Bank of England stood at about 30 tonnes. Yet, one US$ dollar was selling at about GHS16,” he added.
Reacting to the post, an X user, @charllycolegh, wrote:
“Funny enough, their gullible followers will believe him that the dollar was 16gh at the end of December. NDC and lies 5&6.”
Also, commenting on the post, another X user, @Hajjyass70, said, “Remembering Ghana was managed by Ken Ofori Atta still feels like a dream, can’t even imagine how we coped throughout.”
The social media data showed that as of May 14, 2025, the post had over 258,743 views, 3,843 likes, 323 comments, 785 reposts, and 278 bookmarks.
DUBAWA decided to probe the claim as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Ghana.
Verification
DUBAWA’s investigations showed that the exchange rate by December 2024 was not $1 to GHȼ16 as Sammy alleged.
According to the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the exchange rate as of Dec. 31, 2024, was $1 to GHȼ14.7174.
The country’s central bank explained, “The average interbank rates used by commercial banks for transactions at the close of business, Monday, 30th Dec. 2024.”
The exchange rate data the Bank of Ghana published on Dec. 31, 2024.
Bank of Ghana data DUBAWA reviewed showed that $1 sold at GHȼ15.2776 on Dec. 2, 2024, GHȼ15.1226 on Dec. 4, 2024, GHȼ14.7074 on Dec. 30, 2024, to GHȼ14.7174 on Dec. 31, 2024.
There was no time in December 2024 that $1 sold at GHȼ16 as the country’s central bank data confirmed.
Also, $1 sold at GHȼ14.7574 on Jan. 6, 2025, the last day of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government.”
The exchange rate data the Bank of Ghana published on Jan. 6, 2025
Conclusion
At the end of December 2024, the exchange rate was $1 to GHȼ14.7174, not $1 to GHȼ16 as the Ghana Goldbod Executive Officer has alleged.
