Ghana, the continent’s top gold producer, is making an audacious move to take tighter control of its gold mining sector, and it’s doing so with the kind of boldness that suggests it’s done playing nice. In a country where gold has long been both a blessing and a burden, the government is tightening the screws on foreign players and taking direct charge of operations, starting with the high-profile takeover of the Damang gold mine.
The state’s decision to assume operational control of Damang follows the expiration—and notable rejection—of South African mining giant Gold Fields’ lease application. Gold Fields had already scaled back operations, having ceased active mining at the site in 2023 and turned to processing leftover stockpiles while implementing a closure plan. Still, the mine contributed 135,000 ounces to the company’s gold output in 2024. Now, the Ghanaian government is stepping in, turning the page on years of private-sector dominance in one of the nation’s richest mining areas.
But Damang is just the start. As of May 1, 2025, Ghana will also begin enforcing new restrictions that bar foreigners from trading or buying artisanally mined gold. This is where things get especially spicy. The informal gold sector—commonly referred to as “galamsey”—has long been a hotbed of controversy, corruption, and environmental destruction. While successive governments have pledged to regulate it, few have gone this far.
Enter the Ghana Gold Board, or GoldBod. This newly formed state agency now holds exclusive rights to buy, sell, assay, and export gold from licensed small-scale miners. And it’s not just a symbolic move. The government has wiped the slate clean by invalidating all existing export licenses, demanding that foreign entities pack up and vacate by the end of April. Those who stay risk criminal prosecution.
It’s a massive shift, and one that’s ruffling feathers beyond Ghana’s borders. The artisanal gold market is not just a local concern—it’s deeply entangled with global supply chains, often finding its way into luxury goods, tech manufacturing, and global bullion reserves. Now, Ghana is telling the world: if you want a piece of our pie, you’ll have to go through us.
Economically, the move comes as Ghana tries to claw its way out of its worst financial crisis in decades. Inflation, currency depreciation, and a mountain of public debt have all pushed the government to seek new ways to boost revenue—and gold, quite literally, is the country’s brightest hope. Last year, gold exports surged by 53.2%, reaching $11.64 billion. Nearly $5 billion of that came from the small-scale mining sector alone. It’s no wonder, then, that the government wants to plug the revenue leaks and take firmer control of the stream.
To bolster this strategy, Ghana has also just reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund under its $3 billion bailout programme. While the IMF flagged underperformance by the end of 2024, it acknowledged recent corrective steps and has agreed to release an additional $370 million. That cash infusion, though useful, isn’t a lifeline—it’s a reminder that Ghana’s reforms must deliver results.
Still, skeptics abound. Some worry about the capacity of GoldBod to handle such a dominant role in the market. Others question whether local traders and communities will actually benefit from these changes or simply see a new layer of bureaucracy. And then there’s the risk that foreign investors, already jittery about policy unpredictability, may start steering clear of Ghana altogether.
Yet, Ghana seems undeterred. In a world where resource-rich nations often feel shortchanged in the global economic order, the message is clear: the gold under Ghanaian soil belongs to Ghanaians first. Whether this strategy leads to a golden age or just more glittery rhetoric remains to be seen. But for now, Accra has laid down its pickaxe—and it’s mining more than just metal. It’s digging for sovereignty.
