- Chamber of Mines Warns Regulatory Instability Is Eroding Ghana’s Mining Investment Confidence
Ghana’s mining industry has intensified calls for regulatory certainty and policy consistency, warning that rising unpredictability in the sector could weaken the country’s competitiveness as a long-term destination for mining investment.
Speaking at a policy dialogue dubbed Conversations with Templars, organised by Accra-based law firm Templars on the theme “Ghana’s Mining Sector at a Turning Point,” President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Michael Edem Akafia, said recent regulatory disputes, shifting policy signals and public commentary around mining rights were creating unease among investors.
According to him, mining remains one of the most capital-intensive sectors of the economy, with projects often requiring between 15 and 20 years to move from greenfield exploration to commercial production. That long cycle, he argued, makes policy predictability and security of tenure essential to investment decisions.
“The industry is capital-intensive and long-term in nature, and that should inform policy,” Mr Akafia said. “We need regulatory certainty and policy consistency because these issues are creating an impression that is putting Ghana in a bad light as far as foreign investors are concerned.”
His comments come as the government proceeds with a review of Ghana’s mining regulatory framework, including what has been described as an overhaul of the Minerals and Mining Act, currently on the legislative calendar.
Mr Akafia said the reform process must be grounded in the commercial and operational realities of the sector, particularly the treatment of mining lease renewals and the legal rights of companies that have met the material conditions attached to their mineral rights.
He pushed back against suggestions that mineral rights extensions should be treated like ordinary tenancy renewals, arguing that the law provides a different standard for mining leases.
“The law itself says that when a mineral rights holder has met the material conditions of their mining lease, then the minister shall extend,” he said.
For the Chamber, the concern is that uncertainty around lease renewal, licence extension and policy direction could increase the risk premium attached to Ghana’s mining sector, at a time when other African jurisdictions are actively competing for exploration and production capital.
Mr Akafia said Ghana’s position as one of Africa’s leading gold producers was not accidental, but the result of reforms that attracted long-term private capital after years of underinvestment in state-controlled mining assets.
He noted that Ghana’s total gold production had fallen sharply by the early 1980s. However, the reforms of the mid-1980s attracted companies such as Gold Fields, AngloGold Ashanti, Newmont, and other large-scale operators, which helped reposition the country as a leading mining jurisdiction.
The Chamber, he said, supports the creation of Ghanaian mining champions, but insists that this must be pursued through due process and in a manner that does not undermine Ghana’s investment reputation.
“We believe Ghanaian champions should be created, but it has to be done right and in accordance with due process,” he said.
Beyond regulatory uncertainty, the Chamber also raised concern over the rapid growth of artisanal and small-scale mining, including illegal mining operations, which it says have now overtaken large-scale mining in gold output.
According to industry data cited at the forum, artisanal and small-scale mining accounted for about 52 per cent of Ghana’s gold production last year, compared with 48 per cent from large-scale producers.
Mr Akafia said the development should be treated as a major policy signal, especially because illegal and poorly regulated small-scale mining continues to pose operational, environmental and security risks to large-scale mining companies.
He argued that enforcement alone would not resolve the challenge. Instead, Ghana must accelerate formalisation, introduce traceability systems and integrate artisanal and small-scale miners into the formal financial and regulatory architecture.
Drawing lessons from Latin America, Mr Akafia pointed to Chile as an example of how traceability and financial exclusion can be used to discourage illegal mining.
“If you engage in illegal mining in Chile, you are locked out of the banking system and practically every part of the formal economy,” he said, adding that such traceability systems had helped contain illegal mining activity.
He disclosed that the Chamber, working with partners including the World Gold Council, is developing a framework to bring artisanal and small-scale miners under a formalised structure through licensing, traceability mechanisms and regulated processing infrastructure.
The proposed model includes processing plants that would be formal hubs where small-scale miners can get licensing support, meet compliance requirements, and work within accepted environmental and operational standards.
Mr Akafia said such a model could help reduce the security threat posed to large-scale mines, where illegal miners often encroach on concessions after exploration work has already identified mineralised zones.
Industry players have long argued that illegal mining does damage the environment and increases operating costs, disrupts mine planning, undermines community relations and exposes large-scale operators to safety and security risks.
The Chamber’s warning comes at a critical moment for Ghana’s mining sector. Government is seeking to increase local participation, deepen value retention, support gold refining and capture more foreign exchange from the mineral trade. At the same time, investors are watching how the state handles lease renewals, local content reforms, small-scale mining formalisation and calls for greater state control of strategic assets.
For the Chamber, Ghana can pursue a more ambitious mining reset, but it must do so without sacrificing regulatory credibility.
The country’s challenge is not whether to retain more value from mining. That objective is widely accepted. The real test is whether Ghana can increase local participation, formalise small-scale mining and strengthen value addition while preserving the policy stability required to attract long-term capital.
