Gold Exports and Cost Implications of Illegal Gold Mining in Ghana
Isaac Ibrahim
School of Economics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
Wuhan, China
Email: safarilioncrimson@yahoo.ca
Abstract: Precious commodity as its often called, gold has been a major export commodity and export earner for Ghana. Formally called the Gold Coast due to her large mineral reserves, Ghana has been the second largest producer of gold in Africa and seventh in the world. AngloGold Ashanti is the largest official mining company in Ghana. Along with other large mining companies, they extract, refine and export gold in Ghana. However, due to its lucrative nature, following liberalization, many small scale and mostly illegal gold miners have joined in to mine. Illegal gold mining, known as galamsey in local parlance has many serious implications for the country. This paper uses predominantly, a case study approach to examine the
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1. INTRODUCTION
Located in West Africa, Ghana has often been nicknamed the land of gold. Noted for her large gold deposits, Ghana was formerly called the Gold Coast by the British when they first arrived in the former colony. Ghana, like most modern economies relies heavily on export earnings to develop her economy. Ghanaian exports for the period 2003 to 2016 on average was 1960.80 million US Dollars. Ghanaian exports peaked in 2012 first quarter reaching 4118.30 US Dollars. In the fourth quarter of 2016, exports rose to 3126.10 US Dollars from the third quarter figure of 2872.20 US Dollars.
The main exports of Ghana are timber products, cocoa ,gold; and others such as aluminum, diamonds, manganese, tuna, etc. Cocoa and gold, however stand out amongst the exporting commodities. The mining industry contributes 5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of which gold accounts for over 90% of all exports of
To conclude, the video “Caravans of Gold” by Basil Davidson, the aim of the video was to give the viewers a better understanding of how Africa and its empires used their supply of gold as an advantage to their success. It embodied critical points to vindicate why Africa was such an intricate nation because how they use gold and the various empires that used gold to their benefit. By discovering the complexity of Africa, people are able to have a better clarification of this continent and how it flourished because of its
These two passages “There’s Still Gold in These Hills” and “Letter From a Gold Miner” help the reader understand the history and process of gold mining in the US. Both passages give detailed information, specific instructions, and an interesting background about gold mining. These passages use different strategies to help the reader perceive the history and process. These strategies may include using specific dates of when the gold rush took place, information to help the reader picture the setting of where to find gold, and also teaches the process step by step.
Willis, A. and Smith, M. (2013, July 24). Retrieved March 16, 2014, from Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-24/colombia-illegal-gold-mines-prosper-in-global-rout.html
The first West African state of record was Ghana which had been ruled by over forty kings by the year 300 A.D. The early Ghanaians were a peaceful and prosperous people who developed an economy based on agriculture and...
It is thought-provoking, in the sense that Africa’s need for foreign created a race to the bottom, much like what Pietra Rivoli described in The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. Due to some African states’ reliance on foreign aid in order to mine and profit on their resources, they allow business standards to be lowered and for Chinese firms to tip the contracts moresoever in the favor of Chinese firms. This lowers the potential earnings of African states by lowering royalty rates, for example. Additionally, Burgis’ research was thorough and transparent. When he did not receive a response or if his questions were dodged, he made it obvious to the readers. Sure, some could view this book as too anecdotal to be used as a credible source of Africa’s situation. However, this is due to the nature of the system Burgis is writing about; after all, they are shadow states for a reason. Some readers will be saddened by this text, others angry, most curious to learn more, but above all, everyone will be intellectually stimulated and
There was also a Kingdom called Mali that broke off from the Ghana Empire. At this time they had embraced the religion of Islam and had been under the great rule of Mansa Musa. This empire had the job of protecting the caravans or shipments carrying the goods, so that they can trade. They helped towards the function of trade so that both the importer and exporter gained something. In document 3 it explains how their wealth was great because of their trade. The document also talks about the fact that they had exhibited the characteristics of an advanced divination like sufficient food to feed its people, a strong army equipped with advanced weapons and income derived from taxes. Even though the Mali Empire had wealth there was very little corruption if there was with the ruler. He did not go mad with power but he was generous. In document four it states they there was no person who did not receive a sum of gold from him.
Ghana’s land was full of resources, but iron, gold, and salt were the most important. Starting with gold, Ghana traded gold for most of what they needed as they had so much gold even their dogs wore gold collars. Ghana used gold to trade with other nations to get resources like livestock, tools and cloth. Ghana traded gold because they had so much of it the following was iron. Ghana used iron for strong weapons that they used in battle and tools that helped them live. Iron made items that helped Ghana become stronger. Iron helped Ghana a lot, but not as much as gold. In other words, Ghana used iron to make tools, weapons, and armor. Along with iron and gold came
...ld help improve the economy of the nation. The pocketing of profits by corrupt government officials shows characteristics of patrimonialism, which not only hinders the economy because these profits are the sole source of revenue for the nation, but also harms the democratic stability of the nation and can to some extent cause the regime changes of the nation. The civic conflicts of the nation are not handled by the government and not only do these conflicts drain revenue from the government, but shows the lack of mobilization in the government, possibly due to a lack of taxation, due to the resource curse. These claims show that the resource curse has affected the government and economy of Nigeria greatly as it leads to ineffective and corrupt government with a hindered chance of democratization, with civic conflict that cannot be controlled by the civic government.
"Ghana." Economy: Population, GDP, Inflation, Business, Trade, FDI, Corruption. Index of Economic Freedom, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. .
Nigeria was a great area for the British to manufacture goods, so Nigeria became part of the British imperial expansion that focused on exploiting raw materials and minerals that were important to Western industrial development. Britain mainly tried to stimulate tropical export crops in Nigeria and to get demand in the area for British manufactured goods. Developments such as the introduction of the pound sterling as the universal medium of exchange, encouraged “[The] medium of exchange, encouraged export trade in tin, cotton, cocoa, groundnuts, and palm oil” (Metz 1992). Specifically, the important product that the British wanted to export was palm oil. Palm oil was the type of oil used for cooking all over the world that comes from the palm oil tree. Nigeria had resources that weren't available anywhere else, and British wanted to use these resources to make
Ghana: The Gold Coast of Africa The Gold Coast, now known as Ghana, is one of many civilizations of Africa. It was a British Colony until March 6, 1957, when it became independent as the State of Ghana. In 1471, the Portuguese invaded this area and became involved in gold trade, giving the region the name, The Gold Coast.
Accra, the capital of the beautiful and welcoming nation Ghana, is located in West Africa, West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea. It is known for its wildlife, beauteous attractions, and richness in gold and secluded beaches. Ghana also known as the “Gold Coast,” gained their independence on March 6th 1957 from the British. The nation was led to independence by the first president Kwame Nkrumah, who altered the country to a republic. Ghana continues to grow each day as a nation, Though Ghana is growing each day they face many economic and social problems, such as poverty, health issues, education, corruption, and economic challenges.
The Tanzanian Vision 2025 notes Tanzania’s problems with donor-dependence, corruption, and faulty implementation. But the IMF’s poverty reduction report for Tanzania related two more issues that Tanzania itself didn’t touch upon, inflation and the environment. The IMF’s Poverty Reduction Report goes into detail on the issue of the depreciating Tanzanian shilling, supposedly since 2005 the inflation rate for the Tanzanian shilling has been increasing and as of 2009 it sits at 12.1 percent. This is due to poor handling of natural resources which leads to higher production costs. Also since exports have failed to match up with the import bill the trade deficit has increased, to make up for it Tanzania has been relying gold as its most valuable
My deepest sorrow for Ghana’s environmental challenge reached its climax when I recently visited five rural mining communities in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana as a member of a research team from Dalmort Consulting Limited to carry out GIZ’s community wellbeing programme for KEEGAN-(Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Survey 2014). During this period, I personally witnessed the heart wrenching pollution of river bodies, the wanton destruction of many hactares of Ghana’s evergreen reserved forests and the destruction of hundreds of acres of cocoa farms by illegal mining activities. I reason therein that environmental governance offers me a brilliant opportunity to understand the issues involved and to contribute to development of the environment and this has contributed to my motivation to pursue the
...ontributes a large percentage to the Gdp of the country. As stated in the introduction many of Africa, mostly Sub-Saharan is rich in natural resources. The largest of the products produced in Ghana that is also a large export is Cocoa other items that are largely produced in Ghana are automobiles, aluminum, and also agricultural products like Shea butter certain edible foods that are used in traditional Ghanaian foods. Many of the goods produced are exported to countries such as the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain. Below is a chart of goods produced in Ghana, these goods are mostly exported as well Ghana is the second largest producer of Cocoa, which is the basic ingredient in chocolate. The bar graph below shows the earnings of goods produced and exported in the country of Ghana from 2000-2008.