The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) will introduce a financing and formalisation initiative for artisanal and small‑scale miners in 2027, aimed at transitioning operators into legal and responsible mining.
Announcing the programme at the National Mining Dialogue in Accra on Tuesday, August 18, Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi said the intervention—known as the Artisanal and Small‑Scale Mining Formalisation and Financing Support Programme (FFSP)—will be implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Minerals Commission, and RCOMSDEP.
Mr. Gyamfi explained that the FFSP will provide support in regulatory compliance, capacity building, concession viability, equipment financing, and mining services. He emphasised that the initiative is designed to help artisanal miners operate as legal, responsible, and OECD‑compliant entities.
The initiative comes as artisanal and small-scale mining becomes an increasingly important part of Ghana’s gold industry. Mr Gyamfi said 2025 production figures showed that ASM contributed about 3.11 million ounces of gold, representing 52.4% of the country’s total gold output.
For the first time in more than a century, he said, artisanal and small-scale miners had overtaken large-scale producers in national gold production. He argued that the development demonstrated the potential of Ghanaian participation in the gold value chain.
“This proves that when Ghanaians become active value actors, their productivity will power national development,” he said. The GoldBod CEO said responsible and formalised ASM operators should be supported with appropriate hard-rock mining equipment.
He said such support could be structured through repayment models that strengthen GoldBod’s gold aggregation while helping increase national gold output and reducing environmental risks. Mr Gyamfi also linked the planned financing programme to GoldBod’s wider effort to formalise the sector and distinguish responsible miners from operators engaged in destructive practices.
He said ASM formalisation, traceability and compliance must help separate responsible miners from those involved in irresponsible mining. The programme is also expected to form part of GoldBod’s broader efforts to address illegal mining and its environmental impact. Mr Gyamfi said GoldBod was already supporting the government’s anti-illegal mining efforts through the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).
He disclosed that GoldBod had previously donated pick-up vehicles and GH¢5 million to NAIMOS and was procuring high-specification speed boats to strengthen operations against illegal mining, particularly around water bodies. He said Ghana must create a mining sector in which young people and local businesses can participate meaningfully rather than remaining spectators.
“The social license must therefore be re-imagined as a development compact with the youth,” Mr Gyamfi said, arguing that the sector must create sustainable jobs, build capacity and open opportunities around mining production. The FFSP, he said, is part of that broader effort to make artisanal and small-scale mining more formal, productive and responsible while increasing Ghanaian participation in the country’s gold economy.
Source: Bernard Ralph Adams
