The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GOLDBOD), Sammy Gyamfi, has urged government to take deliberate steps to increase local ownership throughout Ghana’s mining sector.
He argued out that the country cannot keep producing gold for decades while Ghanaians watch from the sidelines on ownership and benefits.
Speaking at the National Mining Dialogue in Accra, Mr Gyamfi said the state’s mining reforms should not focus only on boosting output, but must also widen Ghanaian involvement in exploration, mine construction, mining services, refining and downstream ventures.
“We must promote more indigenous ownership of mines. We must support Ghanaian capital to participate meaningfully in exploration, mine development, mining services and value addition,” he said.
“Production without ownership is limited. Production without value addition is leakage. Production without community transformation is a broken social contract.”
He noted that more than 100 years of commercial gold mining in Ghana has not delivered enough local control, industrial growth or real change in mining towns.
“The large-scale mining sector has been largely foreign-led, and too much of the value has leaked out of the country through ownership structures, financing arrangements, imported inputs, offshore services, limited beneficiation and weak local industrial linkages,” he stated.
Using Obuasi as an example, he said extracting minerals alone does not ensure development. He stressed the need for targeted policies on ownership, infrastructure, reinvestment and industry linkages to turn mineral resources into lasting economic benefits.
“If we want a new story, we must own more, refine more, process more, fabricate more and retain more,” the GoldBod CEO stressed.
Mr Gyamfi proposed an “Involve, Protect, Expand” framework to restore mining’s social licence, with greater roles for host communities and the youth.
Under the plan, he wants mining areas treated as “development partners and economic shareholders” instead of just land providers and local firms to tap opportunities in catering, transport, security, maintenance, environmental monitoring and land restoration.
The proposal also pushes for tighter environmental safeguards, formalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining, crackdown on illegal mining, and growth of local refining and jewellery production.
Mr Gyamfi added that GoldBod is already rolling out initiatives to boost Ghanaian participation and keep more value from the country’s gold within the economy.
