Former CEO of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), now GoldBod, Nana Akwasi Awuah, has welcomed the growing number of gold refineries being established in African gold-producing countries, describing the trend as a significant move towards retaining more value from the continent’s mineral resources.
His comments follow the commissioning of Burkina Faso’s first national gold refinery, RAFFINOR-BF, on September 28, 2026.
The facility, inaugurated in Ouagadougou, forms part of Burkina Faso’s efforts to process more of its gold domestically rather than exporting doré for refining elsewhere.
Nana Awuah noted that African countries, including Ghana, are increasingly pursuing domestic processing and value addition in the gold sector.
He cited the Royal Ghana Gold Refinery as an example, describing it as the first refinery in Ghana with state participation in its ownership, and said the development of local refining capacity represented an important step in changing the continent’s traditional approach to mineral exports.
He, however, pointed to the importance of international accreditation and access to global bullion markets.
South Africa’s Rand Refinery remains the only LBMA-accredited refinery in Africa, according to the refinery itself and LBMA materials, while Ghana’s Gold Coast Refinery is working towards potential LBMA accreditation with technical support from Rand Refinery.
Nana Awuah said the expansion of refining capacity should therefore be accompanied by efforts to ensure African refineries can meet international standards and compete effectively in global markets.
He said the continent must not only refine its gold locally but also develop the systems and partnerships needed to maximise the economic benefits of that value addition.
Mr Awuah said the developments represented an opportunity for African gold-producing countries to rethink how their natural resources are managed, arguing that domestic refining could help countries retain a greater share of the value generated from their gold resources.
“Africa is taking the right decisions as far as its natural resources are concerned,” Nana Awuah said, adding that there must be a deliberate strategy to create synergies across the continent
