President John Dramani Mahama has lauded the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod).
The GoldBod is the sole authority with exclusive rights to buy, sell, weigh, grade, assay, value and export gold and other precious minerals in Ghana.
He said that by exercising greater sovereignty over its natural resources, the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board had given the Government greater control over its gold exports.
“In 2024, the total gold exports from the small-scale mining sector were set to amount to 63 tons,” President Mahama said in his remarks at the Africa Trade Summit 2026 in Accra.
“Of this volume, the foreign exchange repatriation accounted for only about 40 tons of exported gold. Of those, 23 tons of forex did not come back.”
He said since the establishment of the Gold Board in April 2025, exports from the small-scale mining sector have increased to 104 tons, with 100 per cent of the foreign exchange repatriated through the Central Bank.
The President noted that Ghana was also increasing the participation of indigenous Ghanaian companies in mining and other natural resource extraction activities
He said local content laws had been passed, which made it mandatory for non-Ghanaian investors to partner with local companies in all mining and extractive investment activities.
“Industrialisation cannot succeed within fragmented national markets. Africa’s future lies in regional value chains,” the President said.
“Not every country can produce everything, but together we can build competitive industries across our borders where raw materials, intermediate goods, and final products, and finished products, move seamlessly within our regions. This is how other areas have industrialised.”
President Mahama said to support this, Africa must invest in transport corridors, energy grids, and digital infrastructure while harmonising standards and regulations. Industrial integration requires market integration.
He said the African Continental Free Trade Area was the most ambitious integration project ever in the history of the African continent.
He said by creating a single market of over 1.3 billion people, the African Continental Free Trade Area provided a scale African industry which had long lacked expansion, adding that it would transform Africa into a viable manufacturing and investment destination.
He said Ghana was proud to host the Secretariat of this continental body and to be among the early adopters of trading under its preferences, but the African Continental Free Trade Area would not automatically industrialise Africa.
The President reiterated that it must be deliberately linked to industrial policy, infrastructure investment, and enterprise development.
He said reducing non-tariff barriers, simplifying customs procedures, improving logistics, and investing in digital trade infrastructure were essential if the African Continental Free Trade Area was to deliver on its promise.
President Mahama said Ghana’s experience reinforced key lessons, declaring that industrialisation worked when policies were deliberate, infrastructure reliable, skills developed, and macroeconomic stability maintained.
He said investor confidence thrived when institutions were strong and policies were predictable, adding that Africa’s industrial transformation could not be achieved solely by governments and that governments must provide leadership and stability. The private sector must invest and innovate.
He said financial institutions must design long-term financing solutions, and that development partners must align with Africa’s priorities ,emphasising the need for African institutions to coordinate and remove the barriers to integration.
