Ghana plans to ban exports of unprocessed minerals by 2030 as Africa’s biggest gold producer seeks to capture more value from its natural resources and spur domestic industrialization, President John Mahama said.
“I’ve set a clear goal that by 2030, raw minerals should no longer leave our shores,” Mahama said in a speech at a mining conference in the capital, Accra. “Our bauxite, manganese, iron, lithium and other minerals must support processing and industrial development here at home.”
The government will pursue a phased ban on exports of unprocessed ores, backed by legislation, mineral-specific requirements and clear implementation timelines, Mahama said.
Ghana has already banned exports of iron scrap and non-ferrous metals, as well as raw gold produced by artisanal and small-scale miners.
The measures are part of a broader push by African governments to do more mineral processing domestically, allowing them to export higher value products and have more influence over markets into which they are key suppliers. Guinea is weighing restrictions on bauxite shipments and Zimbabwe is banning exports of lithium concentrate, while the Democratic Republic of Congo has imposed strict limits on volumes of cobalt which can leave the country. Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali and Ivory Coast have either built gold refineries or plan to do so.
“Investors must understand the processing obligations associated with access to our resources,” Mahama said, demanding that those requirements should be reflected in mineral agreements and in the value chains African nations develop.
Ghana is one of the world’s largest gold producers, hosting operations owned by international companies including AngloGold Ashanti Plc, Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. and Gold Fields Ltd., which export the precious metal in a semi-refined form.
The country is the No. 3 exporter of manganese, accounting for about 10% of global mined supply, according to the US Geological Survey. Ghana is also a small producer of bauxite, although it has sizable reserves of the mineral.
(By Ekow Dontoh and William Clowes)
