Ghana has taken a significant step toward closing a major gap in its mining supply chain with the formal launch of national Grinding Media Standards in Accra, a move the Ghana Chamber of Mines says could unlock approximately US$92 million in opportunities for local manufacturers and cement the country’s credentials as a mining support services hub in West Africa.
Kenneth Ashigbey, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, said the standards represent far more than a technical document, describing the launch as a direct contribution to the national agenda of making mining a driver of industrialisation and broad economic development.
“This is not merely the unveiling of a technical document; it is a bold step in advancing a national agenda, one that seeks to harness mining as a transformative force for Ghana’s economic development,” he said at the ceremony.
Mr Ashigbey said the initiative addresses a gap the Chamber has worked to close for years. He noted that annual procurement of grinding media by mining companies grew from about US$33 million in 2014 to over US$126 million in 2022 and reached US$131 million by the close of 2023. Yet despite that rapid growth, only approximately US$20 million was being sourced from local manufacturers in the same period, leaving a domestic production gap of around US$92 million.
Grinding media, which refers to the steel balls and related materials used in mineral processing mills, is a critical input in the extraction and recovery of ore. Mr Ashigbey said the absence of clear, enforceable quality standards had undermined confidence in locally made products, exposing mining companies to increased plant downtime, reduced recovery rates, and higher operational costs. The new standards are designed to change that by giving local producers a benchmark to meet and giving buyers a framework to assess domestic products with the same rigour applied to imports.
Mr Ashigbey also used the platform to challenge the definition of local content in Ghana’s mining sector, urging a shift in focus from the citizenship of suppliers to the origin and actual manufacture of goods. He said local content policies must build productive industrial capacity and create jobs rather than simply add costs.
He cited the broader economic contribution of the mining sector, noting that domestic procurement of goods and services accounted for 37.98 percent of mining companies’ revenue in 2024, rising to 46.4 percent when fuel and electricity are included. Fiscal contributions including taxes and royalties accounted for an additional 18.71 percent. “This clearly demonstrates that the greatest opportunity for national value capture lies in local procurement,” he said.
He added that the standards position Ghanaian manufacturers to pursue export opportunities across the continent under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), potentially transforming Ghana from a mining nation into a manufacturing hub within Africa’s broader mining ecosystem.
The standards were developed through a collaboration between the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), with technical contributions from the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), the Minerals Commission, manufacturers, and other industry stakeholders.
