Ghana is enhancing local content participation in its mining sector, focusing on small-scale miners and local procurement to drive economic growth. The Mining in Motion Summit will showcase these initiatives and their impact. Key developments include the creation of the Gold Board and Cooperative Mining Policy, aimed at supporting formalization and job creation in the sector.
Ghana is intensifying its efforts to boost local content participation in the mining sector, focusing on optimizing the benefits derived from its mineral resources. This initiative supports small-scale miners, promotes local buying, and mandates international companies to hire and train local personnel. Such measures are creating job opportunities, generating revenue for local enterprises, and driving GDP growth within the sector.
The forthcoming Mining in Motion Summit, scheduled for June 2-4, 2025, in Accra, will spotlight the significance of local mining entities in the sector’s growth. The event aims to demonstrate the collaboration between the government and international stakeholders to foster economic development through enhanced local engagement in mining activities.
Ghana’s dedication to increasing local involvement has shown promising outcomes, evidenced by the small-scale gold mining sector employing over one million individuals and indirectly supporting an additional 4.5 million people, generating in excess of US$5 billion in export revenue in 2024 alone.
To further support local players, the government has enacted pivotal policy reforms, along with financing and skill development programs. In January 2025, Ghana revealed the creation of the Gold Board, which will go live in March 2025, to aggregate gold production from both small-scale and industrial miners for international exports, thereby enhancing commercialization and access to funding for small miners.
Additionally, in August 2024, Ghana announced a Cooperative Mining Policy designed to form community mining cooperatives. These cooperatives will facilitate training, register miners, and grant concessions, thus promoting job creation and sector formalization.
Concurrently, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources secured funding from the World Bank in April 2024 to execute the Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small-Scale Mining Project. This program aims to improve the formalization of small-scale mining operations through District Mining Committees. In line with this mission, the Minerals and Mining (Local Content & Local Participation) Regulations, 2020 ensure that international firms procure Ghanaian goods and services, thereby enhancing local firms’ involvement in development projects.
Several large-scale initiatives are currently in progress, including Goldstone’s Homase Mine, Atlantic Lithium’s Ewoyaa Project, Cardinal Namdini Gold Mine, and Newmont’s Ahafo North Project, further consolidating local content participation in Ghana’s mining sector.
As these developments unfold, the Mining in Motion Summit will provide a venue for high-level discussions and networking opportunities, focusing on key trends and progress in enhancing local content within Ghana’s mining industry.
In summary, Ghana’s mining sector is undergoing significant transformation through local content initiatives that empower small-scale miners and promote local procurement. The establishment of supporting policies and programs aims to unify and enhance the mining community while improving economic outcomes. The upcoming Mining in Motion Summit will play a crucial role in fostering dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders to continue this positive trend.
Original Source: africanminingmarket.com
