Former Chief Executive Officer of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), now Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Nana Akwasi Awuah, has welcomed the expansion of gold refineries across Africa, saying domestic processing could enable gold-producing countries to retain more value from their mineral resources.
His comments follow the commissioning of Burkina Faso’s first national gold refinery, RAFFINOR-BF, in Ouagadougou on Monday, September 28, 2026. The facility forms part of the country’s efforts to process more of its gold locally instead of exporting doré for refining abroad.
“Africa is taking the right decisions as far as its natural resources are concerned,” Mr Awuah said, stressing the need for a deliberate strategy to create synergies among countries on the continent.
Retaining Value in Africa
Mr Awuah said the growing establishment of refineries in gold-producing African countries presented an opportunity to change the continent’s longstanding approach of exporting minerals with limited domestic processing.
He cited the Royal Ghana Gold Refinery as an example of Ghana’s efforts towards local value addition, describing it as the first refinery in the country with state participation in its ownership.
According to him, expanding domestic refining capacity could help African countries retain a greater share of the economic value generated from their natural resources.
He, however, cautioned that simply establishing refineries would not be enough, stressing the importance of meeting international standards and securing access to global bullion markets.
South Africa’s Rand Refinery remains the only London Bullion Market Association-accredited refinery in Africa, while Ghana’s Gold Coast Refinery is working towards possible LBMA accreditation with technical support from Rand Refinery.
Mr Awuah therefore called for the expansion of refining capacity to be accompanied by measures that would enable African refineries to meet international requirements and compete effectively on the global market.
He said African countries must go beyond refining their gold domestically by developing the systems, partnerships and continental cooperation necessary to maximise the economic benefits of value addition.
