The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has advised African leaders to prioritise adding value to the gold they produce, warning that selling raw minerals without value addition would allow foreign gold markets to continue reaping most of the benefits.
Addressing the Global Mining Summit in Accra Monday, June 2, 2025, the Asantehene noted that the current system, where gold is mined and exported to richer countries, creates an uneven playing field, leaving the countries where the gold is mined with little to show for it.
“It is impossible to deny the contention that some sweat to eke out crumbs while others reap the rich rewards of the end-use world, basking in the gilded pomp of the products of nations,” His Majesty said.
“This world of inequity is untenable and unsustainable.”
Otumfuo called on major international gold markets, including London, Dubai, Zurich, and Brussels, to do more than just buy raw materials.
Otumfuo urged richer nations to support the establishment of factories and refineries in Ghana and other African countries where gold is mined, enabling producer nations to benefit from processing their own minerals.
He stressed the inequity in the system, where receiving nations benefit more than those who mine.
“If we acknowledge this inequity in the wealthy world, we may be storing the ingredients for social disaster and disorder with catastrophic consequences, possibly sooner than we realise,” he said.
Although Ghana is the largest gold producer in Africa, it transports most of its products abroad for refining, where they’re used in high-value industries.
The Asantehene has therefore advised African countries to reconsider their pattern and grow their mining industries beyond exporting raw materials.
To the international community, Otumfuo admonished them, as well as investors, to reassess their business transactions in Africa to support private sector growth that can create jobs.
“The gold market can show the way,” he said. “An economically strengthened Africa can only be a bulwark for market stability, which must be what the doctor orders for investors.
Otumfuo’s message was part of a wider call for a shift in the global economic structure. He believes the mining industry, due to its long history of cross-border partnerships, can lead this shift.
“The friendships within the World Gold Council encourage me to dare to think that we can work together to herald a new era of equity in shared prosperity,” he added.
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