There’s no escaping gold in Tarkwa. It’s in the forest. It’s under your feet as you walk the streets of Ghana’s biggest mining town. It’s the economy.
Exposed holes in the ground bear witness to attempts at illegally digging out some of the precious metal and a polluted river on the edge of town shows the consequences of the boom in semi-industrial scale mining.
The mines visited by Duker have existed since colonial times and are now operated either privately or for community use by Ghanaians to counterbalance the foreign grip on large-scale mining in the indebted West African country. These artisanal and small-scale mines—defined as operations on an area smaller than 25 acres—produced more than a quarter of the four million ounces of gold Ghana officially mined in 2023, estimated to be worth $10.6 billion at today’s prices, up from 10 percent in 2012.
Demonstrations in September and October focused on the impact of galamsey miners. But when the Trades Union Congress threw its weight behind the campaign it raised the stakes, calling for an outright ban on all small-scale gold mining to halt activity blamed for polluting rivers—one Ghana Water Company facility said in August that 60 percent of the raw water it treated was affected by illegal mining, depressing cocoa production and destroying forests.
For all its mineral wealth, almost 20 percent of people in Tarkwa-Nsuaem municipality—Duker’s constituency—live in acute poverty, facing multiple deprivations from a lack of clean water to decent shelter, according to the Ghana Statistical Service. A shortage of educational opportunities means young people often gravitate toward the ASM sector’s low-skilled and often dangerous jobs.
Rosemary Addico, who leads the responsible gold program at Solidaridad’s West Africa—an NGO which encourages miners to follow global best practices—believes the onus should be on the buyers to scrutinize the source: “Once international buyers insist on some requirements, the traders will be more careful about where they are sourcing gold from and how it’s mined.”
Illegal mining also carries an economic cost for Ghana, which is wrestling with more than $30 billion of external debt and secured a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund last year. But Safeya AlSafi, the UAE’s acting assistant undersecretary for commercial control and governance at the Ministry of Economy, told Bloomberg News that the shortfall could be due to incorrect information from the country of origin, adding, “I don’t know exactly if there is any actual smuggling. We have a very strict system.
Back in Accra, one of just three of Ghana’s 16 regions that doesn’t produce gold, the anti-galamsey movement is gaining momentum even if the protests have died down as the election focus has shifted to the economy—with inflation above 20 percent for more than a year—and a lack of jobs, in the country of 34 million. Billboard-sized images of brown rivers and reports of birth defects, allegedly linked to galamsey, have left voters with graphic images of the damage.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Security Bank to buy stake in Home CreditSECURITY Bank Corp., the country's eighth largest universal bank in terms of assets, said on Friday that it had entered into an agreement to acquire a 25-percent stake in HC Consumer Finance Philippines Inc. (HCPH), better known as Home Credit Philippines, for approximately P11 billion.
Read more »
Security Bank acquiring 25% stake in Home Credit PHSecurity Bank Corp. said Friday it is acquiring 25 percent stake in HC Consumer Finance Philippines, Inc. (HCPH), a leading consumer financing company in
Read more »
ACEN acquires 49% stake in Vietnam firmACEN Corp., the renewable energy unit of the Ayala Group, said Wednesday it acquired a 49-percent stake in BIM Energy Holding Corp. (BIMEH), a subsidiary
Read more »
Security Bank Acquires 25% Stake in Home Credit Philippines for P11 BillionSecurity Bank Corporation has entered into an agreement with MUFG Bank Ltd. to purchase a 25% share in Home Credit Philippines for approximately P11 billion, aiming to enhance its consumer finance capabilities and market presence.
Read more »
Okada Group drops backdoor listing plan, sells stake in AsiabestGaming resort operator Okada Group dropped its backdoor listing plan after selling its entire stake in listed dormant company Asiabest Group International
Read more »
Fed officials stake out competing policy viewsCHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — Two Federal Reserve (Fed) governors on Wednesday laid out competing visions of where US monetary policy may be heading, with one citing ongoing concerns about inflation and another expressing confidence that price pressures will continue to ease.
Read more »