Ghana’s gold reforms, Fort Knox doubts and the return of national reserves

Who controls the gold?

Ghana is changing the rules around one of its most valuable resources. At the same time, questions about the gold at Fort Knox and the return of national reserves from overseas vaults are drawing attention to a shared issue: owning gold, controlling it and being able to verify it.

Dr. Joseph Opare connects these stories in this episode of The Intelligence Report. The discussion moves from Ghana’s domestic reforms to the trust that countries and citizens place in the institutions holding their wealth.

Ghana changes the trading rules

The creation of GoldBod marks an effort to bring more of Ghana’s gold trade under national oversight. Its April 2025 licensing announcement invited Ghanaian applicants and wholly Ghanaian-owned companies into the new system. It also directed foreigners to leave the local gold trading market by 30 April.

The aim is to capture more export earnings through regulated channels and tackle smuggling. When gold leaves outside the official system, Ghana loses the ability to track the trade and secure its full benefit.

That connects the policy to the cedi. Gold exports can bring in foreign currency needed for imports and other payments abroad. Keeping more of those earnings within official channels is part of the strategy for strengthening reserves and supporting economic stability.

The doubts surrounding Fort Knox

The episode also explores fears that Fort Knox may not hold the gold claimed for it, and demands for a public inspection that people can trust. In February 2025, Trump and Musk had already brought those questions into the headlines. AP reported Trump’s call to check the gold and Musk’s questions about whether it was still there.

Published Treasury audit reports did exist, including an audit of the Mint’s deep-storage gold accounts for 2024 and 2023. The debate was about whether existing checks provided the public with enough confidence, and whether a fresh, visible inspection was needed.

Opare brings that concern into the wider discussion of financial trust. What kind of evidence should citizens be able to see about national reserves? Who checks the holdings, and how clearly are the findings explained?

Countries are bringing gold home

Moving a country’s gold back from overseas storage is called repatriation. By the time of this video, there were already concrete examples.

Reuters reported in May 2024, citing the Times of India, that India had moved a little over 100 tonnes from the United Kingdom to domestic vaults. Germany had completed an earlier programme in 2017: the Bundesbank confirmed that 674 tonnes had returned from New York and Paris to Frankfurt.

These transfers put the location of reserves into the debate. Gold held at home is under domestic custody; gold held abroad depends on arrangements with an overseas custodian. Countries have to weigh direct control against the practical benefits of storage in international financial centres.

What this means for Ghana’s strategy

The Ghanaian reforms and the international reserve debate meet at the question of control. For a gold-producing country, the challenge is to turn a valuable resource into lasting financial strength. For a country storing gold abroad, it includes deciding where that wealth should sit and how access is secured.

Watch the episode for Opare’s discussion of Ghana’s policy changes, the Fort Knox concerns and the movement of gold reserves back home. Together, they ask how much confidence rests on official assurances—and what countries want to hold directly in their own hands.