How China’s ‘Go Out’ Policy Intensified Ghana’s Galamsey Crisis and Cost the Country Billions

Decades after China launched its “Go Out” policy, its ripple effects are now fueling Ghana’s escalating galamsey (illegal mining) crisis, costing the country billions of dollars each year.

Despite a nationwide crackdown, galamsey continues across rural communities due to economic hardship, lack of jobs, weak enforcement, and an influx of foreign miners, especially from China. Analysts say Chinese miners exploited regulatory loopholes and brought in heavy machinery that transformed small-scale mining into destructive mechanized operations.

According to researcher Nathaniel Ocquaye of the London School of Economics, Chinese involvement “irreversibly transformed” Ghana’s artisanal sector. Bulldozers and excavators cleared forests in days, and cocoa farms disappeared “like mist” wherever the miners operated.

The use of mercury and cyanide has contaminated major rivers, causing illnesses, birth defects, reduced fish populations, and worsening Ghana’s water crisis. Fishermen like Benjamin Yankey, who once relied on the Ankobra River, say the pollution has wiped out previously abundant fish species.

In towns such as Elmina, residents like 72-year-old Jennifer Dazi spend hours waiting for water that may only flow before dawn. Many now rely entirely on sachet water, despite widespread poverty. UNICEF data shows that 22% of rural Ghanaians lack safe water, with some regions exceeding 40%.

Although Ghana deported 4,500 Chinese miners in 2013, their equipment remained and continues to be replicated locally. Dredging machines known as changfa, along with bulldozers and excavators, still enter the country, prompting the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners to demand a ban.

Some Chinese miners have used illegal profits to open supermarkets, casinos, construction firms, and other businesses that form networks involved in gold smuggling and recruitment. Their operations thrive through corrupt Ghanaian officials, chiefs selling land, and locals who obtain mining licenses on their behalf.

Recent months have seen intensified government actions, including new multi-agency task forces, deployment of “Blue Water Guards” to rivers, and proposals for drones and digital monitoring to track illegal operations.

Ocquaye argues that Ghana must strictly regulate all Chinese-owned businesses, and calls for structured Ghana–China cooperation to address the crisis. He recommends civic education in mining communities to promote lawful mining practices and environmental protection.