Maureen Okpe
A groundbreaking report by the Global Initiative Against Transitional Organized Crime has revealed alarming levels of criminal infiltration, foreign involvement, and environmental destruction in Ghana’s booming artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector.
The report, made available to Global Sentinel on Thursday, was produced after three years of intensive field research, satellite analysis, and interviews, highlights how illicit mining operations are reshaping Ghana’s local economies, ecosystems, and power dynamics, with serious implications for the wider West African region, including Nigeria.
According to the report, Ghana’s gold mining landscape is expanding rapidly, but in a largely unregulated and informal manner. Regions like Western and Ashanti continue to be hotbeds for ASGM activity, but new frontiers such as the Savannah region are emerging swiftly.
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The data shows that only 18% of surveyed mining sites in the Savannah region are over a decade old, reflecting a sharp rise in recent mining activity compared to about 33% in the Western region.
This growth the report noted, is fuelling an illicit gold trade estimated to be worth over $1 billion annually.Findings underscore how weak governance, regulatory loopholes, and limited enforcement are enabling transnational criminal networks to thrive.
Foreign actors, the organization claimed, particularly from China and Burkina Faso, are injecting capital and advanced technology into illegal mining operations, altering gold supply chains and distorting local financial systems.
The report also highlighted the increased use of cyanide in gold processing, a trend introduced by foreign nationals, which is contributing to environmental degradation and reshaping gold flow patterns across the region.
Researchers warn that the expansion of ASGM activities is not only endangering Ghana’s environment but also driving money laundering through casinos located in mining hubs, and worsening social conditions.
“There is growing concern over the rise of sex trafficking and the exploitation of women in mining communities. Evidence points to patterns consistent with organized trafficking rings operating in tandem with illegal mining operations.”
These developments, according to the report, are closely tied to shifting local power structures, where competing interests are fighting for dominance and profits from the gold trade.
Through the use of remote sensing and predictive modelling, the report provides an innovative approach to tracking illegal mining activities. It uncovers a web of secretive networks and illicit supply chains that adapt swiftly to new regulations and enforcement efforts.
This complexity, the report stresses, demands a multi-pronged and adaptive strategy that builds upon current responses but also brings in new, creative solutions to address criminality in the sector.
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The Global Initiative, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, calls for urgent and coordinated action. The organization, known for its work on transnational organized crime, emphasizes the need to expose and dismantle the criminal networks profiting from Ghana’s gold sector.