The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has cautioned that Ghana and other African gold-producing countries risk social unrest if foreign gold markets continue to reap the bulk of the wealth from raw mineral exports without supporting value addition on the continent.

Addressing the Global Mining Summit in Accra on Monday [June 2, 2025], the Asantehene said the current practice where gold is mined in Africa and exported for processing and manufacturing in richer economies has created an uneven system that leaves mining communities with little to show for their efforts.

“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.

He urged them to support the establishment of refineries and factories in Ghana and other African countries, allowing producer nations to process their own minerals and benefit more from the trade.

He warned that the growing gap between those who extract the resources and those who enjoy the profits could result in serious consequences.

“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.

Ghana remains the continent’s largest gold producer, yet most of its raw output is shipped abroad for refining and further use in high-value industries.

According to Otumfuo, this pattern must be reconsidered if African economies are to grow beyond raw material exports.

He appealed to international financial institutions and investors to reassess their views on doing business in Africa and to support private sector growth through productive ventures that can create jobs and build industrial capacity.

“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, because of its long history of partnerships across borders, 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.