Mining Beyond Exports: Botswana and Ghana lead policy shift in Africa

Across Africa, mining policy is undergoing a profound shift—from the simple extraction of raw materials for export to proactive strategies designed to create economic value within national borders.

Two leading examples of this transformation are Botswana and Ghana, whose recent reforms and strategic policy choices are reshaping how mining contributes to domestic development rather than serving merely as a conduit for foreign investment.

For decades, Africa’s mining sector was dominated by foreign companies extracting resources with limited local participation or value addition.

Today, however, policymakers in several African capitals are deliberately rebalancing the relationship between international capital and national benefit, promoting local ownership, beneficiation, and downstream investment. Botswana and Ghana stand out as case studies in this emerging continental agenda.

In Botswana—a country long defined by its diamond wealth—the government is laying the legal and institutional groundwork to ensure that a greater share of mining proceeds remains within the domestic economy.

In October 2025, the Mines and Minerals (Amendment) Act, No. 14 of 2024, came into force, introducing a requirement that mining companies offer a 24 percent stake in new mining concessions to local investors if the State opts not to exercise its own interest. This marked a significant policy recalibration, replacing the government’s previous discretionary right to acquire up to a 15 percent share.

The reform reflects Botswana’s determination to deepen national participation in mineral wealth. As one policy analyst observed, it signals “an economic evolution from raw export dependency toward integrated growth within the domestic economy,” strengthening the alignment between mining and broader development objectives. While the policy retains flexibility to accommodate investment flows, it underscores a new local empowerment ethos in Botswana’s mineral governance.

Beyond ownership, the government has paired these reforms with measures aimed at encouraging value addition within Botswana. These include expectations for beneficiation where feasible, the establishment of environmental rehabilitation funds sourced from domestic institutions, and strengthened governance and compliance requirements across mining operations.

Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer, is pursuing parallel reforms focused on tightening accountability and embedding mining benefits more firmly in local economies.

In late 2025, the country announced a comprehensive overhaul of its mining law—the most far-reaching revision in nearly two decades—designed to reshape revenue sharing and licensing structures.

Under the new framework, mining licenses will be time-bound, with renewals contingent on environmental, social, and production performance, replacing open-ended permits. In addition, revenues that were previously centralised will now be redistributed through fixed-percentage allocations to host communities, ensuring that local economies derive tangible benefits from mining activity.

As one Ghanaian mining official noted, “We are anchoring mining benefits more visibly in local economies, tightening accountability, and ensuring stronger local participation in the gains from mineral wealth.

” This reflects the underlying philosophy of the reforms: mining is no longer solely about extraction but about shared prosperity and broad-based development. Ghana also continues to enforce its local content law, which prescribes ownership thresholds for surface and underground mining activities, ensuring meaningful participation by Ghanaian entities across the sector.

Together, Botswana and Ghana illustrate how African countries are reasserting control over their mineral assets and redefining mining as a catalyst for industrialisation, job creation, and economic diversification.

By prioritising local participation, value addition, and equitable benefit sharing, they are shaping a new African mining agenda—one that is more inclusive, sustainable, and aligned with long-term development goals.

Source: Mining Indaba