Ghana's currency volatility linked to extractive sector leakages - Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance, said that Ghana's exchange rate instability is driven more by structural leakages in the extractive sector than by weak export performance. Mr. Jackson delivered the 2026 Dean of Business School Lecture Series at the University of Professional Studies, Accra. He said the cedi depreciated by nearly 71 per cent between 2016 and 2024, before appreciating by about 40 per cent between 2024 and 2025, describing this as "a story of dangerous volatility that were symptomatic of unresolved structural weaknesses."

Mr. Jackson noted that Ghana recorded a trade surplus of about US$5.1 billion in 2024 but lost close to US$8 billion through leakages. He said Ghana exported about US$11.9 billion worth of gold, but less than half of that value was retained domestically. Mr. Jackson welcomed the introduction of the Ghana Gold Board as a step towards improving value retention in the gold sector, noting that early results pointed to a potential 75 per cent rise in export value and more than a two‑fold increase in contributions from artisanal mining.

Mr. Jackson cautioned that the Ghana Gold Board addressed only part of the broader challenge, as "the major leakages service imports, profit repatriation and debt servicing remain largely untouched." He also warned that high domestic inflation continued to undermine currency stability, noting that inflation, which peaked at about 54 per cent in 2022, remained elevated relative to major trading partners through 2024.