Chris Aston, Team Leader of the UK-Ghana Gold Programme (UKGGP), has outlined critical recommendations aimed at reforming Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector, which is currently mired in inefficiency, environmental degradation, and vulnerability to criminal exploitation. Speaking at a UKGGP Post-Manifesto Engagement with Political Parties on Tuesday, September 24, Aston pointed to systemic issues that, if left unchecked, threaten both Ghana’s economic stability and its security. The first recommendation centred on addressing the financing shortfall for small-scale miners. Currently, artisanal miners, who contribute significantly to Ghana’s gold production, lack access to government-backed financing. As a result, many are forced to rely on informal, and often opaque, funding sources from foreign intermediaries including actors from Burkina Faso, Lebanon, China, and India. This informal network, Aston suggested, introduces substantial risks to the integrity of the...