TY - JOUR
T1 - Linkages in Ghana's gold mining industry
T2 - Challenging the enclave thesis
AU - Bloch, Robin
AU - Owusu, George
PY - 2012/12
Y1 - 2012/12
N2 - By 2009, Ghana was the second-ranked African producer after South Africa, and had become the world's ninth largest producer of gold, at some 3.8% of global production, up from 2.6% five years earlier. Gold production volumes and revenues rose significantly over the decade from 2000. Yet gold mining tends to be perceived negatively in Ghana, and is seen as providing far less than it should in terms of public revenue, employment, skills development and spillovers, and localised economic development. Gold mining is often depicted as having an enclave status, disconnected and isolated from the rest of the economy. In contrast, the research findings here demonstrate that after a period of strong investment and growth, gold mining can no longer be viewed as an enclave activity: it is in fact more deeply linked into the Ghanaian economy than hitherto understood, through a set of as yet under-researched but promising economic linkages, notably backward linkages, which can potentially be strengthened by policy and support measures.
AB - By 2009, Ghana was the second-ranked African producer after South Africa, and had become the world's ninth largest producer of gold, at some 3.8% of global production, up from 2.6% five years earlier. Gold production volumes and revenues rose significantly over the decade from 2000. Yet gold mining tends to be perceived negatively in Ghana, and is seen as providing far less than it should in terms of public revenue, employment, skills development and spillovers, and localised economic development. Gold mining is often depicted as having an enclave status, disconnected and isolated from the rest of the economy. In contrast, the research findings here demonstrate that after a period of strong investment and growth, gold mining can no longer be viewed as an enclave activity: it is in fact more deeply linked into the Ghanaian economy than hitherto understood, through a set of as yet under-researched but promising economic linkages, notably backward linkages, which can potentially be strengthened by policy and support measures.
KW - Enclave
KW - Ghana
KW - Global value chains
KW - Gold mining
KW - Industrialisation
KW - Linkages
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84870246431&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.resourpol.2012.06.004
DO - 10.1016/j.resourpol.2012.06.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84870246431
SN - 0301-4207
VL - 37
SP - 434
EP - 442
JO - Resources Policy
JF - Resources Policy
IS - 4
ER -