Guinean President Mamadi Doumbouya has announced an immediate, indefinite ban on raw gold exports. The emergency decree forces all mining operators to process and refine their precious metal entirely within national borders, state-owned radio broadcasted.
The policy directive targets industrial corporations, semi-industrial firms, and hundreds of artisanal miners. Doumbouya declared that Guinea will no longer allow its natural wealth to leave daily in an unrefined state.
Data from the Ministry of Mines and Geology shows joint gold exports reached 22,142 kilograms in the first quarter of this year alone. Government officials aim to capture the profits historically lost to foreign refineries.
“Guinea possesses the second largest gold reserves in West Africa, but its gold leaves the country daily in raw form to be processed, certified, and sold elsewhere,” Doumbouya stated during a meeting with industrial and artisanal gold producers, as well as gold traders active in the West African country, broadcasted by the state-owned Radio Télévision Guinéenne.
The export restriction aligns with recent African resource nationalism trends. It mirrors Zimbabwe’s strict ban on raw lithium exports, which similarly aimed to curb mineral leakages and boost local industrialization.
All domestic gold processing must now occur at the newly built Nimba Gold Refinery in Conakry. The state-of-the-art facility features an initial processing capacity of 2,000 kilograms of gold per day.
Refining gold into ingots locally will allow Guinea to certify and sell its products directly to international markets. The transition aims to strengthen national financial reserves while creating specialized, high-paying engineering jobs.
Recent World Trade Organization data reveals that raw gold accounts for 47.2% of Guinea’s total export value, generating 4.81 billion dollars annually. The metal stands as the nation’s top fiscal resource.
The military government warned that compliance is mandatory. Any mining operator attempting to smuggle or export unrefined gold faces immediate license suspension and the permanent termination of their extraction contracts.
“From today, I put an end to this practice: Guinea will require its gold to be processed within its borders. Raw gold will no longer leave Guinea,” the military president said.
