Guinea is latest African country seeking to keep profits at home

What the report says

The Irish Times reports that Guinea has moved to stop exports of raw gold as part of a wider push to retain more value from its mineral wealth. President Mamadi Doumbouya announced the immediate ban last month during a meeting with gold producers that was later shown on national television. Under the policy, gold mined in Guinea is to be melted, certified and processed domestically before being sold abroad, with penalties threatened for operators that continue exporting raw gold.

The measure comes as Guinea prepares to open a gold refinery in Conakry, which the government hopes can serve as a regional processing centre for west Africa. The Irish Times notes that Guinea has major deposits of gold, diamonds, iron ore and bauxite, yet poverty and limited access to electricity remain widespread. The article also cautions that enforcing the ban could be difficult if the refinery is not yet fully operational.

The policy places Guinea among several African states trying to capture more mining revenue by restricting exports of unprocessed minerals. Tanzania and Uganda have already imposed similar controls on some minerals, Ghana plans a raw gold export ban by 2030, and Zimbabwe has tightened rules on strategic minerals. The Democratic Republic of Congo also used cobalt export limits, which the paper says coincided with higher state revenues after prices rose.

The Irish Times frames the issue as part of a longstanding challenge: much of Africa’s mineral extraction has operated with limited links to local economies, while higher-value refining and processing often happen elsewhere. It also notes differing corporate responses, with some Chinese firms localising processing and some Western companies turning to investor-state arbitration when governments change mining terms.