Accra: 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 emphasized the need for Africans to retain greater control over their natural resources and to derive more significant benefits from their exploitation.
According to Ghana Web, Gyamfi urged Africans living abroad to move beyond remittances and become strategic investors in sectors capable of driving long-term economic growth. He highlighted the African diaspora as one of the continent's greatest assets, with the capital, expertise, technology, and global networks needed to accelerate Africa's transformation. PwC has warned that Ghana's economic recovery remains vulnerable to global shocks, underscoring the need for strategic investment.
"Remittances are lifelines, but investments build self-sustaining engines. Remittances help households survive, but investments help economies transform," Gyamfi stated. He encouraged members of the diaspora to channel investments into productive sectors such as manufacturing, agribusiness, technology, healthcare, infrastructure, green energy, and value addition. Gyamfi 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 declared. Furthermore, Gyamfi 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 prioritized the formalization of Ghana's gold trade, enhanced traceability systems, intensified efforts to combat gold smuggling, increased foreign exchange mobilization, and supported the Bank of Ghana's gold reserve accumulation programme.