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Golden Shield: Why Gold Matters for Africa’s Reserve Management Toolkit
Golden Shield: Why Gold Matters for Africa’s Reserve Management Toolkit
Sputnik Africa
Gold has long sat quietly on several central bank balance sheets of African countries. It is no surprise that monetary authorities on the continent are giving... 02.10.2026, Sputnik Africa
2026-10-02T18:31+0200
2026-10-02T18:31+0200
2026-10-02T18:31+0200
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Golden Shield: Why Gold Matters for Africa’s Reserve Management Toolkit
Sputnik Africa
Gold has long sat quietly on several central bank balance sheets of African countries. It is no surprise that monetary authorities on the continent are giving it a more active role—buying domestic production, earning returns on gold placements, and using bullion to strengthen reserves, support currencies, and reinforce economic sovereignty.
The moves come amid sustained global central bank demand for gold. The World Gold Council says central banks added an average of about 1,000 tonnes a year over the previous four years, almost twice the annual average of the last decade, while 45 percent of respondents to its 2026 survey expected their own institutions’ gold holdings to increase over the next 12 months. African central banks are taking different approaches rather than following a single model: Tanzania had accumulated 27.5 tonnes by June 10; Uganda launched a domestic purchase program targeting at least 100 kilograms by the end of June; Zimbabwe increased its gold holdings from 1.5 tonnes in April 2024 to 4.03 tonnes by December 2025, with the central bank describing gold as part of the reserve buffer backing the ZiG; and Ghana was seeking to raise the share of large-scale miners’ output sold to the central bank from 20 to 30 percent as part of its reserve-building program.In an interview with African Currents, Nigerian economist and Wits University Professor Emeritus Kalu Ojah said gold can help hedge against inflation and currency volatility but cautioned against treating it as a substitute for sound economic management. Gold, he argued, is only one part of a central bank’s "reserve management toolkit"; a country’s economic strength ultimately depends on how well it manages its economy, harnesses its resources, and adapts to an evolving global payments system.To find out what else our guest had to say, tune in to the African Currents podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.In addition to the website, you can also catch our episodes on Telegram.► You can also listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Pocket Casts, Afripods, Podcast Addict.► Check out all the episodes of African Currents.
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Golden Shield: Why Gold Matters for Africa’s Reserve Management Toolkit
Gold has long sat quietly on several central bank balance sheets of African countries. It is no surprise that monetary authorities on the continent are giving it a more active role—buying domestic production, earning returns on gold placements, and using bullion to strengthen reserves, support currencies, and reinforce economic sovereignty.
The moves come amid sustained global central bank demand for gold. The World Gold Council says central banks added an average of about 1,000 tonnes a year over the previous four years, almost twice the annual average of the last decade, while 45 percent of respondents to its 2026 survey expected their own institutions’ gold holdings to increase over the next 12 months.
African central banks are taking different approaches rather than following a single model: Tanzania had accumulated 27.5 tonnes by June 10; Uganda launched a domestic purchase program targeting at least 100 kilograms by the end of June; Zimbabwe increased its gold holdings from 1.5 tonnes in April 2024 to 4.03 tonnes by December 2025, with the central bank describing gold as part of the reserve buffer backing the ZiG; and Ghana was seeking to raise the share of large-scale miners’ output sold to the central bank from 20 to 30 percent as part of its reserve-building program.
In an interview with African Currents, Nigerian economist and Wits University Professor Emeritus Kalu Ojah said gold can help hedge against inflation and currency volatility but cautioned against treating it as a substitute for sound economic management. Gold, he argued, is only one part of a central bank’s "reserve management toolkit"; a country’s economic strength ultimately depends on how well it manages its economy, harnesses its resources, and adapts to an evolving global payments system.
"Gold happens to also have a historical use as commodity money. It's a part of the reserve assets of the central bank's portfolio [...]. Gold is a part of the portfolio of reserve assets that a central bank uses to carry out their mandate—to serve as the fiscal agent of the government in making sure that the economy is producing at a level that is not inflationary and that the monetary policy is responsive to the country's need to stabilize its currency and therefore its economy [...]. A good central bank does not need the IMF to tell it what to do in order to manage or to carry out its remit as a central bank. What determines your well-being is how well you are managing your economic affairs and how well you are harnessing, you are tapping, your endowment, and using them prudently. How they manage any other economic activity, economic windfall prudently will inform their prospect going forward, and therefore Gold is not going to substitute that need to prudently manage your economic affairs; it's just a tool in the toolkit of your central bank," Prof. Ojah noted.
To find out what else our guest had to say, tune in to the African Currents podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
In addition to the website, you can also catch our episodes on
Telegram.► Check out all the episodes of African Currents. 
