Zambia is going for gold.
The Southern African country is taking a ‘gold’ leaf out of Ghana’s playbook by adopting some of its measures to include artisanal gold producers in the formal economy, reports MiningMx.
In Ghana, the continent‘s largest gold producer with about 6 million ounces a year, small-scale gold production overtook production from large established miners in 2025 generating almost US$11 billion in foreign exchange, largely thanks to the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, also known as Gold Bod.
While Zambia is historically known as a copper miner, it is hoping to generate about US$1.8 billion by including artisanal gold miners in the formal economy.
An enormous gap exists between the value of Zambian gold imports declared by major importers such as the United Arab Emirates (US$1.8 billion) and Hong Kong (US$108 million), and the value recorded by the Zambian central bank (US$128 million).
Zambia hopes to narrow this gap by channelling artisanal gold through formal structures.
Kakenenwa Muyangwa, CEO of state-owned miner Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines, told Bloomberg that official gold exports can be increased by regularising trade in artisanal gold.
‘This is what we hope to achieve in Zambia,’ Muyangwa said, pointing to the Ghana model. ‘We are very excited about this golden opportunity.’
Senegal has reportedly also expressed interest in Ghana’s model to improve traceability.
