Guinea has banned the export of raw gold in an effort to raise domestic processing of metals, Africa-focused business news site Ecofin Agency reported Monday.
President Mamadi Doumbouya announced the ban on raw gold exports on June 19 during a meeting with industrial and artisanal gold operators and gold purchasers.
Guinean gold will be smelted, processed and certified in-country before it’s exported abroad and operators who continue to export raw gold will face licence suspensions and the termination of mining contracts, Doumbouya said.
Resource nationalism
The country’s yellow metal ban comes amid a rising trend of resource nationalism in West Africa, and especially in the Sahel region, where governments are trying to capture more of the value chain.
In recent years, military governments in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, have changed mining laws, ramped up government stakes and sometimes seized assets since military coups over the last six years. Western mining companies have tried to seek negotiation amid the changes.
Local processing
Guinea’s military government has since 2022 followed a policy that prioritizes local processing of bauxite – its top mineral export – through the construction of more alumina refineries. Last November, as Guinea prepared for the first shipments of iron ore from the huge Rio Tinto-led (ASX, LSE: RIO) Simandou mine, the government said it would fast-track the development of refineries and iron ore pellet plants to increase domestic processing.
In addition to potentially boosting iron production, the move could create more jobs in the sector and reduce exposure to commodity price swings, the World Bank said.
Though Guinea ranks sixth among African gold producers, gold is still a significant contributor to mining revenues. The country produced 69.3 tonnes in 2025, according to The World Gold Council. Most of its exports came from artisanal miners and about one-third from industrial mining, Ecofin said, citing data from the Ministry of Mines and Geology.
New gold production will go through the Nimba Gold Refinery – Guinea’s first – now being installed in the Gbessia district of the capital Conakry. Until it’s operational, processed gold will likely have to be stockpiled.