An institutional weakness? – The participation of Chinese miners in Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector.

Abstract: This thesis addresses the ongoing debate on the involvement of Chinese nationals in Ghana's artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector. Despite the Minerals and Mining Law, Act 703 (2006) prohibiting foreigners from engaging in ASGM, it is reported that about 50,000 Chinese nationals have migrated to rural Ghana to engage in illegal mining activities. This has caught the attention of the public and raised concerns about the regulation of the sector. The thesis investigates the factors that enable Chinese participation in Ghana's ASGM sector, the challenges associated with its regulation, and its impact on rural transformation in Adum Banso, Western Region, Ghana. The study adopts qualitative methods, including semistructured interviews, focus group discussions, and field visits, to obtain primary and secondary data. The findings indicate that local miners in Ghana seek to mechanise and intensify mining operations but lack the financial and technical capacity to do so. Consequently, they collaborate with Chinese miners by requesting investments or technical training. This has led to the emergence of a fast-developing mechanised and intensified "medium scale" mining sub-sector, which falls outside the institutional and regulatory framework of Ghana's mining sector. The state's efforts to address the issues associated with this "medium scale" sector have resulted in the institutionalisation of stopgap measures, such as ad-hoc military operations to flush out foreigners from the sector. However, these measures are dependent on committees that lack the historical working relationships and procedures necessary to navigate the phenomenon efficiently. As a result, state actors, local miners, and Chinese miners find themselves in a "grey area". Moreover, the thesis makes a significant discovery regarding the role of gambling activities and infrastructure, particularly casinos, in the gold trade within rural mining communities like Adum Banso. It reveals that casinos play a crucial role in illicit financial flows (buying, selling, and smuggling of gold), establishing an elaborate "financial system" established by Chinese entrepreneurs. The thesis concludes that the state must establish responsive institutions and structures that can efficiently navigate fast-developing issues like the emergence of a medium-scale mining sector fuelled by foreign participation and investments. Institutions must resonate with the reality of society to effect desirable change; otherwise, opportunistic individuals may continue to exploit such weaknesses.