The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, has declared that Ghana has waited far too long to aggressively process its natural resources locally, warning that the country can no longer afford to export raw commodities while forfeiting the enormous economic benefits tied to value addition.
Dr. Asiama said Ghana’s continued dependence on exporting unprocessed gold, cocoa and crude oil has limited the country’s economic potential and weakened its ability to significantly improve foreign exchange earnings and industrial growth.
Speaking at the signing ceremony of the second gold refining partnership between the Ghana Gold Board and Royal Ghana Gold Limited, the Central Bank Governor semphasized that local processing of key national resources must now become an urgent economic priority.
“For us, processing our national resources is a strategy that is long overdue. Not just gold, but also cocoa, and of course, oil. If we can process these three, our balance of payments will experience a drastic turnover,” he stated.
Dr. Asiama argued that Ghana stands to gain substantially from a stronger local processing industry through increased export value, enhanced government revenues, expanded job creation and improved regulatory oversight across critical sectors of the economy.
According to him, the country’s push toward local refining and industrial transformation is not only economically necessary but strategically important for long-term national development.
“The advantages are clear — jobs, greater revenues for government, and much more oversight on the entire processing value chain,” he said.
The Governor assured stakeholders of the Bank of Ghana’s full backing for policies and initiatives aimed at deepening value addition within the mining and extractive sectors.
“And so therefore, in whatever way we can support, as a central bank, we will support,” he added.
The latest partnership agreement forms part of broader government efforts to expand Ghana’s gold refining capacity and retain a greater share of value from the country’s mineral resources before export, as authorities intensify attempts to reposition the economy towards industrialisation and export-led growth.
