A Brief Report on the Political Economy of Gold Extraction in Ghana, 2001

The political economy of natural resource extraction is a central concern within African Studies. Ghana’s gold mining sector is economically significant, but the governance of extraction and the distribution of its benefits involve complex and often conflicting interests among state, corporate, and local actors. This report analyses the principal political and economic dynamics governing gold extraction in Ghana during the early 21st century. It aims to delineate the key actors, institutions, and power relations that characterised the sector’s political economy. The study employs a qualitative, desk-based methodology. It synthesises existing scholarly literature, policy documents, and institutional reports through an interpretative, thematic analysis of structural and relational factors. The governance of gold extraction was shaped by a tripartite relationship between the state, multinational corporations, and artisanal small-scale miners. The state’s prioritisation of foreign investment and formalisation frequently marginalised artisanal communities. A core tension existed between national revenue generation and local socio-economic disenfranchisement. The political economy of gold extraction in this period was defined by a central conflict: state facilitation of large-scale corporate mining often undermined the livelihoods and interests of local communities and artisanal miners, highlighting fundamental resource governance challenges. Policy should develop more inclusive governance models that formally integrate artisanal miners. Community consultation and benefit-sharing mechanisms must be strengthened. Further empirical research is required to quantify the sector’s socio-economic impacts. political economy, gold mining, Ghana, resource governance, artisanal mining, multinational corporations, state policy. This report provides a concise, synthesised analysis of the actor dynamics and core tensions within Ghana’s gold mining sector, contributing a focused political economy perspective to the African Studies literature.