Africa must retain greater control of its natural resources - Sammy Gyamfi

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has called for a shift in Africa’s approach to natural resource management, stressing that the continent’s vast resources must be harnessed to promote African ownership, value creation and sustainable economic transformation.

Speaking at the Africa Rising Symposium organised by EMY Africa in London on Friday, July 31, 2026, Gyamfi said Africa’s development agenda should move beyond discussions about discovering its natural resources to ensuring that Africans retain greater control over them and derive greater benefits from their exploitation.

He, however, urged Africans living abroad to move beyond remittances and become strategic investors in sectors capable of driving long-term economic growth.

According to him, the African diaspora remains one of the continent’s greatest assets, with the capital, expertise, technology and global networks needed to accelerate Africa’s transformation.

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“Remittances are lifelines, but investments build self-sustaining engines. Remittances help households survive, but investments help economies transform,” Gyamfi said.

He encouraged members of the diaspora to channel investments into productive sectors such as manufacturing, agribusiness, technology, healthcare, infrastructure, green energy and value addition.

He also called on African governments to create an enabling environment for investment through policy consistency, transparent institutions and the protection of contracts.

Gyamfi stressed that Africa’s natural resources should increasingly serve as the foundation for the continent’s prosperity while promoting partnerships that deliver mutual benefits.

“Africa is rising. Let Africans rise with her,” he stated.

Gyamfi further commended President John Dramani Mahama for implementing policies aimed at strengthening African ownership of strategic sectors and resetting Ghana’s economy.

He noted that under his leadership, GoldBod has prioritised the formalisation of Ghana’s gold trade, enhanced traceability systems, intensified efforts to combat gold smuggling, increased foreign exchange mobilisation and supported the Bank of Ghana’s gold reserve accumulation programme.

ANAS/MA

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