Africa Mines the Gold, Others Take the Wealth – Otumfuo

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, has spotlighted the exploitation of African countries in the mining value chain.

In an enlightening speech at the Mining in Motion Summit on June 2, 2025, Otumfuo highlighted the disparity between Africa’s mineral wealth and its actual benefits.

“When the statisticians tell us that mining has contributed an average of 12.3% to GDP and been the largest employer of labour in Ghana, they seem impressive.  But how many of us—policymakers as well as social thinkers—have tried to assess the true value of the resources we dispense? How many have followed the value chain to the final consumer to calculate the true value of what we sell as raw materials?”

According to the King, a cursory analysis shows quite the opposite as the real wealth flows from the value which is added along the so-called value chain.

The real beneficiaries of the continent’s minerals resources, His Majesty identified, as the industries in the manufacturing which procure the raw materials.

“It is impossible to deny the contention that some sweat to eke out the crumps while others cream the milk. Indeed, even the Gold Market has been characterised as split between the Golden Rich of the end-user world and The Gilded Paupers of the producer nations. This world of inequity is untenable and unsustainable.”

His Majesty believes the mining industry is in a position to act as the catalyst for change.

Otumfuo characterises this inequity as untenable and unsustainable and thereby encourages the demand for investment in partnerships in producer countries for the establishment of manufacturing industries.

“It may seem, on the surface, a curious request to make seeing this would inevitably lead to the industrial world having to cede or lose a substantial part of its market share of manufactured goods. But that is precisely what needs to be done if the world is to contain the consequences of the inequities of the present.”

Source: https://opemsuo.com/author/hajara-fuseini/