Ghana will prohibit exports of raw manganese and bauxite by the end of 2030, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson announced in the 2027 Budget Statement on November 12. At least 50 percent of both minerals must be processed locally by the end of 2028, rising to full domestic processing by the end of 2030.
The programme earmarks 1.5 billion dollars for critical minerals value addition covering manganese, bauxite, lithium and gold, financed from domestic fiscal space rather than new external borrowing, as part of a wider 10 billion dollar transformation agenda running from 2027 to 2030. Bauxite is to feed alumina refining and aluminium smelting in Ghana.
Gold carries an earlier timetable. The government targets at least 70 percent of artisanal gold refined locally by the end of 2027 and 100 percent by December 2028, at which point exports of raw artisanal, small scale and medium scale gold will be prohibited.
The announcement converts a policy goal President John Dramani Mahama set out in October, that raw mineral ores should no longer leave Ghana by 2030, into dated budget commitments with processing percentages. The measures are budget proposals presented to Parliament, not yet enacted law, and the processing capacity to meet the 2028 interim target does not yet exist at scale.