Ghana Must Refine Gold Locally to Create Jobs – Ato Forson

Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has called for a deliberate national push to refine Ghana's gold locally, insisting the country must stop shipping its mineral wealth abroad for processing and instead build a domestic industry capable of creating jobs and retaining value.

Speaking during an engagement with faculty and students of the University of Ghana, Dr. Forson questioned the longstanding practice of exporting gold mined in Ghana to South Africa for refining before it is sent to European markets, describing it as a missed opportunity for national development.

“In fact, we've been producing gold for a long time. Companies come here, mine gold, send it to South Africa to refine and send it to Europe,” he said. “I mean, the time has come for us to stop it”.

The Finance Minister argued that Ghana needed to be more purposeful about building a domestic gold industry, with refining serving as the foundation for employment and ancillary businesses along the value chain.

Citing the volumes handled by the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Dr. Forson said the country had sufficient throughput to support local processing. “GoldBod alone buys three tonnes of gold every month,” he said. “We can create some jobs, even if it is two or three jobs”.

He stressed that the benefits would extend well beyond direct employment at refineries. “We are creating jobs and adding value locally. Within the process, there will be other value chains that will be created,” he said.

The minister also envis envis envis envis envis envis envisaged the emergence of a gold souk, or trading market, as part of a broader domestic industry that could position Ghana as a regional hub for the precious metal.

“If we create that industry, Burkina Faso gold will come to Ghana, Niger will come to Ghana, Mali will come to Ghana,” he said, adding that gold from neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire could also be processed in Ghana.

Responding to a contribution during the engagement, Dr. Forson conceded that Ghana had not pursued local value addition with sufficient urgency. “So we haven't been deliberate about it,” he said.

The minister's remarks come against the backdrop of ongoing reforms in the gold sector under the government of President John Mahama. In January 2026, GoldBod signed a landmark refining agreement with Gold Coast Refinery, under which up to one metric tonne of gold would be refined locally each week, supported technically by South Africa's Rand Refinery.

GoldBod Chief Executive Sammy Gyamfi said at the time that the deal would ensure refining charges that previously went to Dubai, Switzerland, India and Hong Kong would remain in Ghana's economy, while also creating direct and indirect jobs as the refinery operates around the clock.

The government has also moved to tighten export rules, with GoldBod directing that artisanal gold purchased by self-financing aggregators must be refined locally before export from September 2026.

Ghana is Africa's largest gold producer, yet the vast majority of its output has historically been exported in raw form, depriving the state of refining revenue, accurate assay valuation and downstream industrial opportunities.

Dr. Forson's push for local refining aligns with a broader continental drive to process minerals domestically rather than export them in raw or semi-processed form, a shift that could reshape West Africa's gold trade if Ghana succeeds in establishing itself as a regional refining centre.