By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Guinea has banned the export of unrefined gold as it hopes to promote domestic processing of the precious metal to boost revenue and create jobs.
The policy which takes immediate effect comes after a meeting between Guinea’s President Mamadi Doumbouya and industrial and artisanal gold producers and buyers.
“Guinea will now require its gold to be processed within its own borders. Raw gold will no longer leave Guinea,” the President said, adding that other countries have been reaping the economic benefits of processing and trading their raw materials.
According to World Gold Council, Guinea is Africa’s sixth largest gold producer.
Other African nations had in the past taken similar steps to increase domestic processing and value addition in the mining sector in recent years.
In Tanzania and Uganda, the export of unprocessed minerals and metals such as gold and copper is already banned, while Ghana is set to ban raw gold exports by 2030.
Africa’s top lithium producer, Zimbabwe, has banned concentrate exports of the metal used to make batteries from 2027.
Gold is one of Guinea’s main exports, shipping more than 22 tonnes of the metal in the first quarter of this year, authorities said.
A new refinery is near completion in the capital, Conakry, where the country’s gold will be sent before processing and export. It has a reported capacity of 250 tonnes a year so should be able to handle the country’s current production.
Foreign companies operating in the country have been warned that they risk losing their licenses and having their mining contracts terminated if they violate the directive.
Guinea is also the world’s largest producer of bauxite, used to make aluminium.
