Ghana Calls on Africa to Treat Local Content as Core Economic Strategy
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Policy Planning, Mineral Titles, and Local Content at the Minerals Commission, Victoria Awuni, has urged resource-rich African nations to move beyond treating local content as a compliance formality and position it as a central pillar of national economic strategy.
Speaking at the 5th Local Content Compliance Forum in Mwanza, Tanzania, she said deliberate localisation policies are critical to ensuring that mineral wealth drives domestic industrialisation, procurement, and leadership.
Madam Awuni highlighted Ghana’s framework and its impact on the economy, focusing on 2025, when mining contributed 70 per cent of Ghana’s gross merchandise export earnings, generating nearly 21 billion dollars and outperforming crude oil and cocoa combined.
She said Gold production reached almost 6 million ounces, while direct tax contributions increased by 56.6 per cent year-on-year to over GH₵27.7 billion and emphasised that retaining value through local procurement and job creation is not optional but a national imperative.
According to her, Ghana’s approach is anchored in the Minerals and Mining (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2020, L.I. 2431, which enforces strict procurement rules.
“On workforce localisation, companies are required to reduce expatriate staff from 10% to below 5% within three years. Clerical and unskilled roles are fully reserved for Ghanaians, while key executive positions, including Mine Manager, Human Resources, Finance, and Legal heads, must be localised following a transition period. Gender-responsive recruitment is also explicitly mandated.
“To strengthen transparency and competitiveness, the Minerals Commission digitised its Mine Support Service Provider licensing via the Mining Cadastre and Administration System (MCAS). Its three primary categories (Class A, B, and C) grant Ghanaian firms a competitive edge, even when their bid prices are marginally higher than foreign competitors. As a result, the number of registered Mine Support Service Providers expanded to 541 companies by July 2026, a 29% increase from 2024.
“This localisation framework has delivered measurable results where local procurement’s share of total industry spend grew from 51% in 2020 to 66% in 2024, channelling over $10.1 billion into domestic enterprises. Mining employment expanded by 30.9% between 2020 and 2025, surpassing 41,000 workers. Expatriates accounted for just 1.28% of the workforce in 2025, while female participation climbed to 11.12%.”
Madam Awuni said Ghana’s Local Content Roadmap, developed from resolutions at the maiden Local Content Summit in Takoradi earlier this year, aims to further empower indigenous businesses.
Key targets include increasing local participation in mine-support investments by 40 per cent and phasing out raw ore exports within five years.
She urged African regulators and industry players to adopt Ghana’s model, built on clear legislation, dynamic procurement lists, digitised registration and transparent performance metrics, as a blueprint for building a resilient and unified continental mining sector.
The forum was held under the theme “From Dialogue to Action: Building a Resilient Mining Sector through Local Content and Industrialization.”
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