Accra, Ghana – Former President John Dramani Mahama, speaking at the Mining in Motion Summit 2025 in Ghana, has declared an end to what he termed “Guggisberg-style concession grabbing” by foreign mining interests, asserting that Ghana’s mineral wealth will no longer enrich others while leaving its own people in poverty. Mahama emphasized that Africa’s mineral wealth must become a blessing, not a curse.
While welcoming foreign investors to partner in Ghana’s extractive sector, President Mahama stressed that the era of large concessions being carved out for international companies due to a perceived lack of local capital, technology, and human resources is over. He highlighted Ghana’s significant human resource pool, possessing expertise in every aspect of the extractive sector, to fully exploit the nation’s natural resources.
President Mahama outlined his administration’s commitment to moving beyond raw extraction to comprehensive transformation. This includes investing in downstream industries such as gold refining, developing the jewelry industry, processing bauxite into alumina and aluminum, converting lithium into battery components, and utilizing iron ore to feed a burgeoning steel industry.
Regarding artisanal and small-scale mining, Mahama announced bold steps towards formalization through initiatives like the Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme and the Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small-Scale Mining Project. These programs aim to provide legal access to land, training, equipment, and shared infrastructure for artisanal miners, whom he described not as enemies of the state but as potential allies in development when properly trained and supported.
To combat illegal mining, Mahama stated that a system would be implemented to track excavators, noting that Ghana currently has more excavators than the rest of Africa combined. A new permitting regime will also be introduced, preventing the import of any excavator without a valid permit. He further revealed that illegal miners have been successfully removed from eight out of nine forest reserves previously designated as no-go zones, marking a significant milestone in reclaiming degraded lands and promoting responsible mining.
Mahama concluded by highlighting Ghana’s gold exports, which earned the country $2.7 billion between January and April, expecting this figure to increase exponentially.
He noted that the state-owned gold company, Goldbod, will soon roll out a track-and-trace system to ensure that Ghana’s gold exports are procured from environmentally sustainable sources, underscoring a commitment to ensuring that every ounce of gold or gram of lithium mined in Ghana leaves a positive footprint through policy and regulation.
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