GoldBod has partnered with B-Light Jewellery to improve access to locally finished gold jewellery and gold tablets across the Western, Central and Western North regions.
The agreement is part of GoldBod Jewellery’s Local Expansion Partnership Programme, which aims to work with retailers, agents and franchisees to widen the availability of value-added gold products for consumers throughout Ghana.
The partnership was launched in Takoradi, where GoldBod Jewellery Managing Director Ms Gertrude Emefa Donkor, Esq., said the new showroom represented more than an increase in the company’s retail network.
She said the initiative would support job creation, keep a greater share of the value generated by Ghana’s gold resources within the country and promote economic empowerment.
“What you are witnessing here today is the creation of a few more jobs for our youth, value retention within our borders, economic empowerment, and for us as a company, this represents executing our strategic mandate, which is maximising the benefit of our natural resource, gold,” she said.
Ms Donkor said Ghana was placing increasing importance on value addition in the gold sector, including the local refining of gold and the development of finished products for both domestic and international markets.
She said this would allow Ghanaians to gain more direct benefit from the country’s mineral resources, rather than relying mainly on exports of gold in its raw form.
GoldBod Jewellery is investing in machinery, modern equipment, information technology infrastructure and staff training as it works to increase its production capacity, she added.
The company is also developing an ultra-modern production facility, intended to raise output for the domestic market while preparing GoldBod Jewellery to compete internationally.
“We are building an ultra-modern facility so that we can scale up production to feed the domestic market and potentially penetrate the international market and be able to compete globally,” Ms Donkor said.
She said businesses, corporate institutions and individuals interested in helping expand the company’s retail presence were welcome to partner with GoldBod Jewellery.
The programme is intended to make locally finished gold jewellery and other GoldBod products available to people across Ghana.
Ms Donkor said interest in the initiative had been overwhelming. B-Light Jewellery was among the businesses that responded and later fulfilled the requirements to become a partner.
Under the agreement, B-Light Jewellery will represent GoldBod Jewellery in the Western, Central and Western North regions.
Ms Donkor called on residents to support the Takoradi-based business, saying its success would also strengthen GoldBod Jewellery’s presence in the region.
“The growth of her business is the growth of GoldBod Jewellery and, of course, the growth of a business which is located right here in the heart of Takoradi,” she said.
She added that a successful partnership could lead to the opening of more GoldBod Jewellery outlets in Takoradi and elsewhere in the Western Region.
Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson said Government remained committed to increasing local participation and value addition across productive sectors.
He said Ghana’s gold industry offered opportunities beyond mining, including refining, jewellery production, manufacturing, retail and skills development.
Mr Nelson urged both companies to view the Western Region not simply as a new market, but as a long-term partner in developing Ghana’s jewellery and gold value-addition industry.
He also encouraged them to create skills development opportunities for young people interested in jewellery design, craftsmanship and related businesses.
Such initiatives, he said, could create livelihoods while protecting and modernising Ghana’s gold craftsmanship heritage.
By Ebenezer Atiemo
