On 19 April 2025, a maiden nonpartisan edition of the Kwahu Business Forum, the brainchild of His Excellency President JD Mahama was successfully organized by the State at the Mpraeso Social Center with key note address by the President of Ghana, His Excellency JD Mahama.
In attendance were some Hon Members of Parliament from both the Majority and Minority Groups including Hon Mr Afenyo Markins, the Minority Group Leader of Parliament, who delivered a powerful speech. Other participants were key players in the Financial Industry including the African Development Bank, CEOs or MDs or Reps of business firms, Start-ups, etc. This situation has thus created a lucrative window for transformation of a Business Forum into a yearly nonpartisan national economic forum as part of Ghana’s developmental agenda.
Truly, the President of Ghana, namely His Excellency JD Mahama, the Minority Leader of Ghana’s Parliament namely Hon Afenyo-Markins and the other participants of the Forum ensured the Forum was nonpartisan when they spoke with measured speech in a candid manner devoid of the usual partisan politics or name-calling. Thus the Participants demonstrated high level of patriotism when they ensured that the Kwahu Business Forum was made and agreed for it to be made a yearly nonpartisan platform for Policy makers, law makers, Regulators, Entrepreneurs or business owners, industrialists, Investors, CEOs and MDs of financial institutions and the academia or scholars to congregate to dialogue, network in order to provide the necessary support for the development of firms and entrepreneurships.
It is hoped the organizers will truly ensure that the forum remains nonpartisan for Ghana to exploit it for the faster growth of the economy of Ghana, through the expansion of Ghana’s private sector which is the crucial engine for economy growth.
It is therefore very important that the yearly Forum should help the State or the President of Ghana to identify which of the three sectors of the economy namely Agriculture Sector, Industrial Sector and Services Sector and or which particular business persons or entrepreneurs need to be given massive support by the State for a very quick activation of the economy towards a buoyant economy. Hence, the Man to Watch Series on the reputable website of Modern Ghana by this author who is championing a Better Ghana Agenda as a way to support the Government of the Day, among others to select businesspersons for the State to give the needed support to ensure Ghana achieves a dream of a buoyant 24 hour economy within the shortest possible time.
It is universally acknowledged that resources including time, money, and natural resources are scarce, whilst human wants are unlimited. Thus the principles of scarcity and choice which are fundamental in economics come into play. So, it necessitates a sound decision in order to make a choice in the allocation of the limited resources and which wants to forgo. This therefore calls for the understanding of the concept of opportunity cost.
As stated, the Economy of a Country hence Ghana is made of three main sectors, namely the Agricultural Sector, the Industrial Sector and the Service Sector. Global Statistics by the reputable German online platform namely Statista indicated that the Service Sector contributes most to the World Economy. For, instance, data from Statista indicated that in 2022, the Service Sector contributed 61.76 percent to global Gross Domestic Products (GDP), the Industrial Sector followed with 27.22 percent contribution to the global GDP and the Agricultural Sector lagged behind with 11.02 percent.
The situation in Ghana is not different from the global statistics, since data on the economy outlook of Ghana show the Service Sector as the highest contributor to GDP. The Data on the economy of Ghana, revealed that in 2013, the Service Sector recorded 50 percent contribution to GDP, and followed by the Industrial Sector with 28 percent to GDP and the Agric Sector as the lowest contributor with 21 percent. The situation of the Service Sector as the highest contributor remained same to date since 2013.
Furthermore, Data from the African Development Bank on the Economic Outlook of Ghana indicated that the Agricultural Sector’s share on employment declined drastically from 53.9 percent in 2007 to 29.8percent in 2019 whilst the Industry Sector’s share on employment rose from 11.1 percent to 21 percent and that of the Service Sector rose from 31.9 percent to 42.2 percent over the same period.
It must be noted that within the Service Sector, the Financial Subsector is revealed as the highest contributor to the growth of the Service Sector followed by health services subsector and education services subsector. Thus Ghana needs to check between the Agric Sector and Industrial Sector of the economy, which is the principal driver of the Service Sector and then determine which subsector in the designated Economy Sector is the principal driver of the Financial subsector in the Service Sector in order to support a structural transformation in Ghana of the Financial Sector to facilitate selective investment in value added activities.
Critical analysis of available data show that the Industrial Sector is the principal driver of both the Agric Sector and the Services Sector. The Industry Sector drive the Agric Sector by value addition thus help in the preservation of farm products, expansion of market for Agric products and with the Service Sector due to creation of massive value chain (activities that add value) and massive supply chain (flow of goods, material and information).
The Industrial Sector is therefore very important as stated it can lead to speedy growths in productivity, output, and technology advancement and thus helps to generate quick significant capital for investment for modernization and transformation of the Agriculture Sector. The Industrial Sector therefore helps the expansion of the growth of both the Agricultural Sector and the Services Sector.
Thus the Industrial Sector as the principal driver of both the Service Sector and Agricultural Sector, should therefore be given the needed support by the President. This explains why the One District One Factory concept should be continued with at least cottage industries to add value to local produces. History will tell that the Nkulenu Industries by the late Dr Mrs Esther Afua Ocloo started as processing of oranges etc and the commercial canning or bottling of food items including Shito from the cottage industry level.
At this point, let me say that the Leaders of Ghana and other African Countries which were/are eligible for the exportation of duty free eligible goods to USA under the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) should blame themselves and not to blame President Trump of USA for the recent tariff imposition on goods from Ghana. By this action by USA, one may be right to say it has ended AGOA, which for over 24 years allowed Ghana and other eligible African Countries to enjoy duty free goods access under AGOA to USA.
Our sleeping Leaders and the intelligentsia community must be blamed for not using their heads to ensure the Country acts very fast in generating massive foreign exchange by the usage of the industrial sector to export massive goods including jewelries, wedding rings etc from gold from Ghana to USA under AGOA which started in May 2000.
AGOA was renewed in 2015 for a further 10 years to expire in 2025, thus the state of affair about AGOA’s termination or otherwise was known to our Leaders. So President Trumps must not be blamed for the failure by the Leaders of the affected Countries including Ghana to use their heads to exploit the lucrative opportunity created by the Africa Growth Opportunity Act by expanding the industrial sector for massive exportation to USA.
Let me be honest by commending the Regime of President Nana Addo with his one District One Factory concept which somehow helped in increasing the volume of goods which were exported under AGOA before the imposition of tariffs on the goods for export to USA effective April 2025.
The Mining subsector which resides in the Industrial Sector has been identified as the principal driver of the financial subsector in the Service Sector. Thus the mining subsector which resides in the Industrial Sector is the significant driver of the Service Sector. This is so since it demands for goods or supplies to, produces the inputs for downstream industries thus expanding the Services Sector.
It demand for equipment for mining, it demands for transportation services to move mineral ore (ore haulage services), to move goods and personnel. It also demands for storage facilities to hold inventory, it demands for maintenance, servicing and repair of vehicles and equipment, demand for service providers or suppliers of security guards, it demand for catering services, medical, health and safety, environmental officers or services , accountants, legal personnel, financial services, communication, and act as tourists attraction, etc.
The mining sector has helped boost the domestic currency through the attraction and increase in Foreign Direct Investment in the mining sector. Also, the Mining Sector helped the economy of Ghana through the Gold Reserves in Bank of Ghana and the Gold for Oil Initiative which has given birth to the GoldBod
A research by the Ghana Chamber of Mines in collaboration with the International Council on Minerals and Metal, revealed that the mining subsector has been attracting more than fifty percent of Foreign Direct Investment, and it generates more than one-third of all export revenues. The research revealed that the Mining subsector is the largest taxpayer and contributes not less than 37 percent of export revenue, and 19 percent of all direct tax payments. These exclude the effects of wages, investment and supplier expenditures that are spent in Ghana. The research was based on data from Newmont Ahafo, Newmont Akyem, Goldfields Damang, Goldfields Tarkwa, Golden Star Wassa, Adamsu Resources and Chirano Gold.
Data from Bank of Ghana indicated that Gold exports generated about 12 Billion US Dollars revenue to Ghana in 2024 with about 5 Billion US Dollars coming from the Small Scale Mining Sector.
Despite, the huge contribution of about 5Billion US Dollars to the economy of Ghana from the Small Scale Mining Sector, there is a clarion call by the public for either the banning or modification of the Small Scale Mining Sector, due to the potential existential threat posed by the Small Scale Mining Sector.
Based on this state of affairs, in order to ensure responsible mining by ecofriendly method. Some persons including this author have called for a Medium Scale Mining Sector and navigating all the licensed Small Scale Miners to the Medium Scale Mining Sector and strict monitoring of community small scale mining or indigenous mining to ensure the operate responsibly.
Fortunately for Ghana, to ensure responsibly mining in the Small Scale Mining Sector, Goldridge Ghana Limited (which was one of the leading gold exporters in Ghana before the 30 April 2025 ban on the export of gold by private Companies by the GoldBod Act 2025), in March 2021 saw the wisdom to enter into an agreement with the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners to support them to formalize their operation to ensure these miners operate in very safe and ecofriendly way.
The Agreement in March 2021 between Goldridge Ghana Ltd and the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners was with the view to ensuring the compliance with local and international standards of responsible mining, due diligence, traceability of the gold. Likewise, for increasing higher production by providing the necessary support in return for channeling of their gold to the Goldridge Ghana Ltd. This is very laudable and should be supported by the State, hence the President of Ghana.
Another area of national concern, is the need for value addition to Ghana’s produces including gold which is generating substantial revenue to the national economy. So there have been several clarion calls for value addition to the gold bars which are produced in Ghana by Downstream industries especially Gold Refineries to provide feed for further downstream industries like the jewellery industry, electronic, aerospace and some automobile industries.
Gold is highly malleable metal, so the Downstream Industries in the Gold industry involves refineries of gold bars from processed or smelted gold ore to the appropriate percent of purity or value addition as required for the manufacturing of jewellery, the needs of electronic industry, dentistry and other industries. This will bring about the increasing in-country value chain (value addition) and supply chain (movement of associated material, goods, information etc hence issues of warehousing, inventory management and the delivery processes).
So the plan by Goldridge Ghana Company in 2021 to establish a Gold Refinery to refine the gold to the desired gold purity must be supported by the State. Since by this noble idea, Goldridge Ghana Ltd would help Ghana to navigate from the production of semi-refined gold between 75 percent and 85 percent to 99.9 percent purity. This situation will motivate the expansion of the jewellery industry as well as the electronic and dentistry industries.
The Gold Refinery of Goldridge Ghana Ltd was expected to have the capacity to refine 1,500 kg or 1.5 metric ton per day at 500kg per eight hour shift. Thus the Refinery may depend on feed from the West Africa sub Region. This will thus help in the development of the greatly desired 24 hour economy to provide employment for the teeming youth. So it must be supported by the State especially the GoldBod to become fruitful.
Goldridge Ghana Ltd is therefore making a great attempt to change the narrative in the Small Scale Gold Mining Industry, since it is going to help to ensure responsible mining or ecofriendly mining by the associated small scale miners. There is also the issue of the Gold Refinery of Goldridge Ghana Ltd reinvesting or ploughing back of the revenue from the Mining Sector to the same sector for value addition to gold bars which are to be produced by the Small Scale Miners.
Thus Dr Nana Duodu, the owner of Goldridge Ghana Ltd needs to be supported by both Government of Ghana through the GoldBod, Minerals Commission, and Mineral Income Investment Fund. As well as support from the World Bank Group and Environmental concern NGOs for the Company to walk the talk.
Should Goldridge Ghana Ltd succeeds in the value addition of gold locally, it would result in the supply of cheap inputs to be paid in local currencies for massive production of jewelries, wedding rings, medals, Oscars, gold coins, inputs for the electronic industry, for aerospace, for Dentistry. Hence multiple industries thus more employments for the youth. Furthermore, a pure gold bar is a store of value hence a very good investment to reduce investment in Dollars as a safe haven.
So, His Excellency President JD Mahama is hereby please urged to support Dr Nana Yaw Douro and his Company namely, Goldridge Ghana Ltd to achieve his vision for navigating the economy of Ghana towards a buoyant one which would certainly result in the achievement of the 24 hour economy due to good linkages between demand and supply.
