Ghana GoldBoard (GoldBod) Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi has called for a coordinated continental agreement to strengthen Africa’s control over its mineral resources and ensure more of their value remains within the continent.
Speaking at the African Minerals Policy Forum – Mining in Motion 2026 on October 19, Gyamfi said Ghana and other African countries were taking steps to use gold and minerals to promote economic stability and transformation.
However, he warned that mineral production alone would not deliver widespread prosperity unless African countries did more to retain value locally.
Gyamfi identified Burkina Faso, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Tanzania and Mozambique among the countries pursuing different approaches to the management of their mineral resources.
“But I believe we can all agree that a lot remains to be done in our collective quest as Africans to move from production to prosperity.
“Let this forum mark a turning point; a turning point from minerals extracted to value retained and from minerals exported to Africans empowered,” he said.
He pointed to Ghana’s experience as an example of what could be achieved through deliberate national policy. He said the country had focused on formalizing gold trade, increasing indigenous participation and retaining a greater share of the value generated by its resources.
Gyamfi nevertheless said national measures had limitations because the mineral sector extended beyond individual borders.
Markets, illicit flows, financing, technology and supply chains all operated across countries, he said, making it difficult for any one nation to establish complete mineral sovereignty independently.
“No country can secure full mineral sovereignty in isolation,” he said.
The GoldBod chief therefore urged African governments to build on the lessons of their separate national policies and develop a shared continental framework covering mineral sovereignty and governance.
“We must therefore translate these national lessons into a coordinated continental compact on mineral sovereignty and governance,” he noted.
He said stronger ownership, processing and industrial development would be required if African countries were to turn mineral wealth into lasting national gains.
“Extraction without intentional policy does not automatically produce transformation. Mines do not build nations by accident. Nations build value through deliberate ownership, strategic partnerships and patriotic policy management. If we want a new story for Africa, we must own more, refine more, process more, fabricate more and retain more.”
