Investing in Ghana gold industry: What you need to know

Anastasia Okopu
London, Ghana
April 20, 2025

G old, cocoa, and hydrocarbon (Crude oil) are helping Ghana maintain a slight trade surplus, earn foreign exchange and improve public finances. At the end of Q4 2024, gold alone generated US$11.64 billion for the country, making it the largest contributor to public finances in the mining sector¹.

Gold mining has existed in Ghana for over 3500 years and the country became Africa’s top gold producer after overtaking South Africa in 2019. Gold contributed 96 percent of mineral export and 43.1 percent of total national export in 2024. Ghana continues to export raw gold even though the country could generate more revenues through local processing and value addition. In this sub-sector, formal and informal activities continue to coexist despite the government's measures that aim to tackle environmental challenges inflicted by illicit mining. Apart from large mining companies, parts of the production chain of the sub-sector remains archaic and is in need of modernization, investments and new technology.

Despite these challenges, Ghana offers investment opportunities in the upstream and downstream segment, with more untapped opportunities emerging in the high value segments, for example in electronics and aerospace industries.

Regulations and institutions

Ghana is constantly updating its mining regulations. The Minerals and Mining Act of 2006 (or Act 703) governs the mining industry. The government amended this main regulation in 2015 and 2019, to cover other aspects of mineral exploration and exploitation. Other key legislations include the Minerals Commission Act of 1993, the Minerals Development Fund Act of 2016 and the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act of 2018. The latest addition is the Gold Board Act Bill of 2025, which creates a new institution that will remove duplications and redundancies in the institutional galaxy of the gold industry.

The State is present in the gold upstream and downstream activities through its regulatory power. In addition to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR), which oversees and gives policy orientations for the entire gold industry, other policy makers that intervene in the sub-sector include the Bank of Ghana, the Minerals Commission and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC).

State institutions in the gold industry

For centuries, gold has been a ubiquitous item of royal extravaganza in Ghanaian culture. It remains a prestigious emblem and insignia of royalty and social status, especially in the Southern and coastal part of the country. But since independence, the State has seen gold as an export item that generates foreign exchange earnings, taxes, and royalties.

Although Ghana occupies the position of first gold producer in Africa, the country does not have a structured domestic market for gold. For example, the Ghana Commodities Exchange (GCX) does not trade this metal, leaving market participants, buyers, and sellers without an official and modern venue to buy and sell the precious metal. In the absence of reliable and transparent information on supply and demand, price (spot or futures), contacts and market standards, informality prevails in the gold transactions. Today, policy makers are trying to reform an industry that is essentially designed for export.

The ministry of lands and natural resources (MLNR)

1. The ministry of lands and natural resources (MLNR) formulates policies and supervises the activities and organization of the gold sub-sector. Its primary mission is to ensure a sustainable, efficient management of the mineral resources to foster socio-economic growth and development. Within the ministry, several departments perform technical and supervisory activities. One notable example is the Minerals Commission, which before March 2025, was in charge or regulation and licensing of mining companies. The Commission signed development and investment agreements with mining companies. The ministry is also home to the Minerals Income and Investment Fund (MIIF), which is a sovereign wealth fund. The mandate of the Fund is to manage the equity interests of the State in mining companies. It also receives dividends from these equity interests, mineral royalties and other related income.

The Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC)

1. The Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) grades, assays, and values precious minerals. This state-owned company also processes, buy and sell precious minerals from and to licensed agents. Since its establishment in 1963, the Government of Ghana is the sole shareholder. The company says it has assayed 453,592.37 (16 million ounces) of gold since 2018. This represents, on average, 64 percent of Ghana’s annual gold production during this period². The PMMC has a broad portfolio of services. Beyond its extensive statutory duties, it functions as a state licensor and a gold coin and jewelry producer and retailer.

The Gold Board

1. On March 29, 2025, the parliament of Ghana passed the Ghana Gold Board Bill. This new institution will have a regulatory role and take over the licensing function and also the monitoring of compliance. It will also have a commercial function as the principal government gold trader. Finally, the Gold Board will be able to undertake financing operation through borrowing on the domestic and even international markets. The govenment expects the Board to contribute to the fight against illicit gold mining and smuggling.

The Ghana Chamber of Mines

1. The Ghana Chamber of Mines is a non-State institution, founded in 1928. Today the Chamber has over 250 members, including mining companies, contractors, and sub-contractors. Ghana ranked tenth in the world amongst gold producers and 1st in Africa in 2023.

Gold production and processing

In 2021, the Minerals Commission maintained a data base of 38 registered mining companies and 45 service providers³. In this group, 13 companies conduct industrial-scale gold mining operations at different sites around the country. Together, they produce 50 percent of Ghana gold. Four companies are multinationals listed in international stock exchanges and also in Ghana. They are:

◦ Newmont is a listed member of on the New York Stock Exchange.

◦ AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), and the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).

◦ Perseus Mining Limited (PRU) a listed member of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

◦ Gold Fields Limited is a primarily member of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Together, these company control over 60 percent of national gold production. However, small-scale and often illicit mining makes up over 30 percent of gold production in the country according to international advocacy group, Global Citizens⁴.

The State of Ghana has 10 percent holdings in Perseus, Newmont and in Gold Fields. Anglo Gold Ashanti (AGA) owns 100 percent of the two sites it exploits, but like the other gold mining companies, it pays royalties and taxes to the State. The remaining companies are home-grown Ghanaian mining companies.

Refineries

Ghana has two gold refinery companies. The first and oldest is the Gold Coast Refinery, a subsidiary of Euroget Group in Egypt. This refinery started operations in November 2016. The company says it refines up to 480 kg of gold a day. It offers assaying, smelting, refining, transport, and export services. In 2018, the company received a license to hallmark refined bullion of over 99.5 purity. Their first venture was selling bars and medallions in the local and international bullion markets.

On August 8th, 2024, Ghana inaugurated its second refinery. The Royal Ghana Gold Refinery (RGGR). This new venture is a public-private partnership between Rosy Royal Minerals of India and the Bank of Ghana (Ghana’s central bank) in which the central bank holds a 20 percent stake. The RGGR has stated that it will process 400 kilograms (kg) of gold per day and announced ambitions to achieve the coveted London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Good Delivery Bar Certification.

Ghana is losing substantial revenues from the value addition that a local refinery brings. The nation aims to restructure its trade to allow producers to export more than raw gold.

Economic benefits and environmental damages

The gold industry brings economic and financial benefits for the country. The Bank of Ghana increased its gold reserves from 19.5 tons in December 2023 to 30.5 tons in December 2024. Also, over the past three year, Ghana has trebled the foreign exchange earnings from export as gold prices continue to rise. the industry employs over 12,236 people according to the Ghana Chambers of Mines.

But, invoking the gold industry of Ghana often brings vivid images of irreversible environmental damages, desolate landscape and polluted rivers. According to the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS)⁵, environmental damages from illegal small scale mining or ‟Galamsey” as they are called locally, constitute ‟a major threat to the country”. This sprawling phenomenon is devastating farm land, forest reserves, and drinkable water. Everyday, ‟Galamsey” activities create conditions for health pandemics. Health authorities are recording high numbers of kidney failure, birth defects, and cancer in mining communities, which they link with water pollution. Also, and according to the Ghana Forestry Commission, ‟Galamsey” activities have destroyed 34 forest reserves⁶, wiped out over 100,000 acres of cocoa farms in at least one cocoa community. Entire economic sectors and industries around mining sites are collapsing such as agriculture and tourism. According to the Ghana Cocoa Board, in 2024, ‟Galamsey” activities caused the destruction of cocoa farms and led to a fall in national cocoa production.

Over the past decade, the government has responded by reinforcing legislation on small-scale mining and by intervening on the ground with security forces to eradicate Galamsey activities. But, these efforts have not yielded expected outcome and in the meantime, illicit mining continues to expand.

One reason that explains the endurance of these illicit activities is that the gold business has remained archaic for decades, held down by old mining techniques and low penetration of modern technology. Another reason is that the benefits of gold wealth have a relatively low trickle down effects. In fact the government itself is recording a decline in revenue from the sub-sector, as taxes and royalties are evaded by illegal miners. Instead, illigal mining activities are perpetuating poverty in mining regions and reinforcing a cycle of dependance to small but quick income that illicit miners generate. These rampant activities have other pernicious ramifications. They are setting Ghana back in its progress towards global governance standards in the extractive industries⁷.

Gold can boost economic development with the right policies. Through the creation of the Ghana Gold Board, the country is embarking on a major overhaul, which include ‟a comprehensive regulatory framework, governance structure, and operational strategies” of the sub-sector, according to the Ministry of Finance⁸. But to reap maximum benefits from these riches, Afrexim Bank recommends the development of a ‟practical strategy for upgrading the value chain” as a key step towards step towards economic diversification. The bank says argues that ‟it is key to redirect the profits earned from the gold sector towards manufacturing”. At the same time, it cautions that ‟placing excessive emphasis on gold extraction may not be feasible in the long term, as it may fail to promote broader industrialization and higher-skilled jobs”⁹.

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