Chris Aston, Team Leader of the UK-Ghana Gold Programme (UKGGP), has outlined critical recommendations aimed at reforming Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector, which is currently mired in inefficiency, environmental degradation, and vulnerability to criminal exploitation.
Speaking at a UKGGP Post-Manifesto Engagement with Political Parties on Tuesday, September 24, Aston pointed to systemic issues that, if left unchecked, threaten both Ghana’s economic stability and its security.
The first recommendation centred on addressing the financing shortfall for small-scale miners. Currently, artisanal miners, who contribute significantly to Ghana’s gold production, lack access to government-backed financing. As a result, many are forced to rely on informal, and often opaque, funding sources from foreign intermediaries including actors from Burkina Faso, Lebanon, China, and India.
This informal network, Aston suggested, introduces substantial risks to the integrity of the gold supply chain. He therefore proposed that providing state-backed financing to miners could enhance transparency, reduce dependence on potentially illicit funding sources, and mitigate broader economic risks.
He also highlighted the inefficiencies in Ghana’s licensing process for mining operations, noting that bureaucratic delays have created significant backlogs. By decentralizing the licensing system and empowering local districts to manage this process, Aston argued that the system could be made more responsive and efficient.
District authorities are better placed to understand local mining contexts,” he said, adding that giving them decision-making power could reduce delays and improve oversight.
The third recommendation concerned the structure of mining royalties. Currently, withholding tax from mining activities goes to the central government, leaving local communities that bear the brunt of mining activities underfunded.
Aston proposed shifting to a royalty system that would direct more financial resources back to district assemblies. This, he asserts, would enable local governments to better manage the influx of people that often accompanies gold rushes and provide necessary infrastructure and services.
Aston’s remarks come at a critical juncture for Ghana’s mining sector, which plays a pivotal role in the economy but also presents serious risks.
ASGM accounts for a substantial portion of Ghana’s gold output, yet the sector remains largely unregulated.
Aston noted that Ghana loses an estimated $2 billion annually in lost tax revenue due to smuggling and illegal operations. In 2022 alone, an estimated 60 tonnes of gold were smuggled out of the country, depriving the state of vital revenue.
Beyond the economic impact, the lack of regulation and enforcement has led to severe environmental damage, including the widespread pollution of rivers, as well as health hazards for both miners and local communities.
Moreover, the sector’s informality has created opportunities for organised crime, with gold smuggling in Ghana and across Africa more than doubling between 2012 and 2022.
The UKGGP, a UK-funded initiative, is collaborating with Ghanaian authorities to address vulnerabilities in the small-scale mining sector by disrupting illegal gold smuggling and illicit financial flows. As part of a broader strategic partnership between the UK and Ghana, the programme aims to tackle shared security threats, including money laundering and serious organised crime, which Aston noted are increasingly linked to the ASGM sector.
