Ghana will formally halt the export of unprocessed mineral resources by 2030, President John Dramani Mahama has announced, in what the Presidency described as a decisive shift towards resource-driven industrialisation, local value addition and national economic sovereignty.
Source: The Presidency, Republic of Ghana via APO
Speaking at the opening of the second Mining in Motion Summit in Accra, Mahama said restrictions would be introduced in phases, backed by legislation, mineral-specific requirements and implementation timetables. The plan covers bauxite, manganese, iron and lithium, according to reporting of his address.
Source: Voice of Serbia / Ghana summit reporting
"I have set a clear goal that by 2030, raw mineral ores should no longer leave our shores," Mahama said. He said Ghana had spent generations supplying foreign industries with manganese and bauxite while importing finished products, losing skilled jobs and technological development.
Mahama urged African countries to export manufactured goods — including electric vehicle batteries, cables and aluminium parts — instead of raw mineral ores, Global South World reported from the summit.
Source: Global South World
Gold, refining and the $450 million manganese plan
Ghana is Africa's largest gold producer and the sixth-largest globally, with output of 187.3 metric tons in 2025, according to World Gold Council data cited in the summit reporting. Since returning to office in January 2025, Mahama's government has expanded local gold refining through the Ghana Gold Board, whose partnership with the Gold Coast Refinery in Accra began processing one metric ton of gold weekly in February 2026.
Other projects include Ghana Manganese Company's planned $450 million refinery in the country's western region — yaani about 45 crore dollars — alongside aluminium refining and iron and steel production, Mahama said.
Ghana has already banned exports of iron scrap and non-ferrous metals, and further restrictions on unprocessed ores will be introduced gradually, Mahama said. Liberia's Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung and African Union Commissioner Francisca Tatchouop Belobe, speaking at the same summit, also called for African countries to turn mineral wealth into competitive industries at home.