BoG pushes for local processing of gold, cocoa, oil to rescue collapse economy
Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama, has thrown strong support behind calls for aggressive local processing of Ghana’s natural resources, insisting that the country can no longer continue exporting raw materials while struggling with economic instability, unemployment and foreign exchange pressures.
According to the Central Bank Governor, Ghana’s long-standing dependence on exporting raw gold, cocoa and crude oil without significant local value addition has deprived the country of billions of cedis in potential revenue, weakened the economy and worsened the country’s balance of payments challenges over the years.
Dr. Asiama made the remarks during the signing ceremony of the second gold refining partnership between the Ghana Gold Board and Royal Ghana Gold Limited, where he stressed that the future of the economic transformation lies in industrialisation and value addition.
“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,” the BoG Governor stated.
His comments come at a time Ghana continues to battle recurring economic pressures linked to heavy import dependence, exchange rate volatility and rising debt obligations despite being one of Africa’s leading producers of gold, cocoa and crude oil.
For decades, economic analysts and policy experts have criticised successive governments for failing to aggressively industrialise the economy and establish large-scale processing industries capable of retaining greater value from the country’s natural resources before export.
Ghana remains one of the world’s leading gold producers and among the top cocoa-producing countries globally, yet much of the country’s exports continue to leave the shores in raw or semi-processed form, with foreign countries benefiting from the larger share of profits through refining, manufacturing and finished products.
Dr. Asiama argued that aggressive local processing would not only improve the foreign exchange earnings but also create thousands of jobs for young people, increase tax revenues and strengthen regulatory oversight within the extractive and agricultural sectors.
“The advantages are clear — jobs, greater revenues for government, and much more oversight on the entire processing value chain,” he emphasized.
The Governor further assured investors and industry players that the Bank of Ghana remains committed to supporting strategic initiatives aimed at boosting local refining, manufacturing and export value addition.
“And so therefore, in whatever way we can support, as a central bank, we will support,” he added.
The latest gold refining agreement forms part of broader government efforts to expand the local gold refining capacity and reduce the export of unrefined minerals.
The push for value addition also aligns with ongoing national conversations about economic diversification, industrial transformation and reducing the dependence on external borrowing and commodity price fluctuations on the international market.
Economists believe local processing of gold, cocoa and oil could significantly improve the current account position, stabilise the cedi and reduce the country’s vulnerability to external economic shocks.
Beyond gold refining, calls have also intensified for increased investment in cocoa processing factories and petroleum refining infrastructure to enable Ghana to export more finished and semi-finished products rather than raw commodities.
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