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| - Claim: Ghana has overtaken South Africa as the continent’s leading producer of gold
Source: Samuel Jinapor
Verdict: TRUE
Researched by Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Jinapor, has claimed that Ghana is currently the largest producer of gold in Africa.
He made the claim in an interview on Joy News on July 23, 2024 ahead of the presentation of the Mid-Year Budget by the Minister of Finance, Mohammed Amin Adam in Parliament.
The minister said: “Today under our watch, in all humility and modesty, since I became minister, Ghana has moved from the second leading-producer of gold to the first leading producer, we have overtaken South Africa. It is because we put in place the needed measures and the conducive environment to attract investment. It is because we have new mines coming up,” (Between 09:33 seconds and 11 minute).
Fact-Check
GhanaFact used data from the Ghana Chamber of Mines (GCM) and the World Gold Council (WGC) to verify the accuracy of the claim that Ghana was Africa’s largest producer of gold.
The GCM’s Performance of the Mining Industry in 2023 report stated on page 14 with respect to production volumes on the continent: “With respect to Africa, Ghana maintained its position as the continent’s preeminent gold producer. An upturn in gold production by artisanal and small-scale producers offset a marginal decline in the output of the large-scale sub-sector. As a result, Ghana’s output increased by 8.3 per cent to 114.5 tonnes in 2023 from 105.7 tonnes in 2022.”
A June 2024 report by the WGC indicates that China, Russian Federation, Australia, Canada and the United States are the top five producers globally.
Ghana is in the sixth position, followed by Indonesia, Peru, Mexico and Uzbekistan respectively, completing the top 10 producers list globally. China has a production of 378.2 tonnes, as compared to Ghana’s production volume of 166.7 tonnes.
On the African ranking, Ghana (135.1 tonnes) comes first followed by Mali (105.0), South Africa (104.3), Burkina Faso (98.6) and Sudan (72.5) in that order.
In June 2023, Reuters reported that Ghana had surpassed South Africa to become the continent’s largest gold producer.
“The large-scale gold sub-sector recorded its highest output in the country’s history in 2022,” Joshua Mortoti, the President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines was quoted to have said.
Gold output rose to 3.7 million ounces in 2022 from 2.8 million ounces the previous year, driven by growth in the output of both large and small-scale sectors, the Reuters report stated.
Verdict
The claim is rated TRUE.
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