Ghana has made a strong pitch to Australian investors for its fast-growing critical minerals sector, positioning itself as a stable, reform-driven hub of the global energy transition at the 2026 Africa Down Under (ADU) Summit in Perth.
Addressing mining executives, financiers and policymakers at the business meeting in Perth in western Australia, the Deputy Chief Executive of the Minerals Commission, Maxwell Yao Akpene Klu, said Ghana was moving beyond its traditional gold dominance to become a strategic partner for battery minerals and green technologies.
“Our country is not just about extracting resources; we are committed to a paradigm shift in mining, one that moves beyond the dig-and-ship model to a value-added approach for the creation of job and wealth locally,” he said.
While reaffirming the country’s status as Africa’s leading gold producer and a destination that had become attractive to mining investment over the past years, Mr Klu outlined vast opportunities in lithium, bauxite, iron ore and base metals among other industrial materials.
The summit is the largest African-focused mining event held outside the continent.
Ghana was led by the High Commissioner to Australia, Doris Brese, and Mr Klu, who is in charge of Small Scale and Industrial Minerals at the Minerals Commission.
The pair touted the potential of the country’s mineral industries.
Job creation
The importance of value addition, Mr Klu said, could not be overemphasised, stressing that “value addition transforms raw goods into higher-value products to boost income margins, reduce waste and create jobs”.
He further stated that “the era of dig-and-ship materials at its raw state are over, hence the need to deliver value-added minerals, while we work towards industrialisation”.
Mr Klu said the country held more than a billion tonnes of iron ore resources and was seeking private partners through the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) to explore the mineral resource.
The Ghana integrated iron and steel drive, he said, was to build integrated industries from mining to refining and smelting, as he confirmed promising geological prospects of pure minerals for manufacturing and industrialisation.
The Deputy CEO said the exploration remained vibrant, with hundreds of active projects targeting gold, lithium, iron ore, among other mineral resources.
Mr Klu also assured investors that the country’s legal stability anchored in the 1992 Constitution and the Minerals and Mining Act 703 of 2006, which was currently under amendment for a progressive mining environment as well as recent incentives, including some waivers for mineral exploration, was to create the needed environment for the growth.
Good governance
Ghana’s High Commissioner to Australia, Ms Brese, said the prudent management of the country’s economy and the enforcement of the rule of law were reasons for the country emerging as the continent’s premier destination for investment.
The delegation from Ghana also attended the graduation of two out of 25 students under the Minerals Commission sponsorship programme at Curtin University in Perth, with eight others scheduled to graduate in February next year.
The Minerals Commission sponsorship programme is for the needed human resource development in the growing demands in the minerals sector which have become a centre of international repute.
