A finance professor at the University of Ghana Business School, Prof. Godfred Bokpin, has warned that Ghana is losing billions in potential revenue by exporting raw gold instead of adding value locally.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, Prof. Bokpin described Ghana’s dependence on raw mineral exports and subsistence agriculture as a “short-term” approach that undermines growth, jobs, and tax revenues.
“When you do the analysis, the maximum profit you can get from exporting raw gold like we have been doing is between one and five per cent,” he explained. “But when you process your gold responsibly and take advantage of the entire value chain, the minimum profit is 10 per cent, and it can go much higher.”
He argued that this failure explains why Ghana’s growing gold export figures are not translating into meaningful development. “Billions are being exported, but it’s not spendable money. It’s not showing up in our revenue envelopes or transforming infrastructure,” he said, pointing out that even the Bank of Ghana booked losses when it participated in the gold-for-oil programme.
Prof. Bokpin noted that Ghana’s gold largely benefits other countries, citing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a prime example. “Over 80 per cent of our gold exports now go to the UAE. They refine it, add value, and resell it globally at higher margins. It’s like we are not going to school,” he lamented.
Turning to agriculture, he said the sector contributes about 17% to Ghana’s GDP but less than 1% to tax revenue, blaming the gap on policies that leave farming to subsistence producers. “Feeding people is business. It’s wealth creation. But in Ghana, we’re not applying business sense to agriculture,” he argued.
He also criticised the mining sector for its weak employment impact, noting that between 2012 and 2023, Ghana created just 250,000 net jobs, while 2.7 million new entrants joined the labour market.
“This is not the kind of leadership we voted for,” he said. “Leadership that focuses only on short-term interests, at the expense of medium- and long-term transformation, is weak leadership.”
Prof. Bokpin revealed that he has raised the issue with international organisations, urging that irresponsible mining be treated as an economic emergency.
“We must ask ourselves whether we are benefiting optimally from resources that will not last forever. If we continue like this, future generations will feel betrayed,” he warned, quoting scripture: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children have been set on edge.”
Source: graphic.com
