The MP for Tano North, Gideon Boako (New Patriotic Party), has attributed the recent strength of the Ghanaian cedi to policies initiated by the former vice-president, Mahamudu Bawumi, under the NPP government.

In a Facebook post, Dr Boako credited the 16.7% appreciation of the cedi since January 2025 to what he called “the Bawumia Gold Formula”.

He claimed that the John Mahama-led administration has merely continued a policy that it once criticised.

“It was Bawumia who realised that we can use our own gold to protect our local currency,” Dr Boako wrote.

“Today, we are here because of Bawumia’s brains, his vision, and his ability to find solutions to Ghana’s problems.”

Cash for gold fixation

Boako said the idea of leveraging gold for foreign exchange – popularly known as Gold for Forex (G4FX) – was pioneered by Dr Bawumia and later adopted by other African countries. “All gold-producing economies in Africa, including Namibia and Burkina Faso, are using the Bawumia Gold Formula to achieve macroeconomic stability.”

He criticised the National Democratic Congress government for not fully continuing the policy in its original form. “The NDC has neglected building up our gold reserves since January and is only focusing on buying gold for forex,” he wrote. “This imbalance will cost us dearly if not fixed quickly.”

Dr Boako urged the government to show gratitude, stating: “If the NPP government had not thought about the future, the cedi would have been suffering today. Mahama should think about the future like we did.”