Timber, Fish, Gold: Who Controls Ghana's Natural Wealth? ‎

Ghana's savannah trees, coastal fish and river gold have one thing in common: for years, the decisions that matter about them have often been made by someone other than the Ghanaian public.

Take rosewood. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) estimated in its 2019 report that more than 540,000 tonnes were illegally harvested and shipped to China from Ghana since 2012, while bans were in place.

Ghana's rosewood trees roughly halved between 2013 and 2021, according to reporting by the China-Global South Project. EIA investigators documented fraudulent use of "salvage permits" and corrupt escorts, and anonymous traffickers allege payments reach ministers. A 2022 CITES suspension has slowed West African exports but not stopped them.

The September arrest in Nigeria of Chinese national Zhang Shijie, wanted over about 1,400 tonnes of smuggled rosewood, has no known Ghana link. But it shows enforcement can come from the buyer's side: he was arrested on September 10 and flown to Guangzhou on September 16.

At sea, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) found that about 90% of Ghana's industrial trawlers, though Ghanaian-flagged, are owned by Chinese companies through local front companies, which Ghanaian law forbids. Sardinella landings have crashed by about 80% over twenty years.

The saiko practice, in which trawlers target the small fish canoe fishers depend on, took around 100,000 tonnes in 2017. EJF found no known example of minimum saiko fines being paid. Ghana received a second EU yellow card in June 2021, and its fisheries authorities suspended four Chinese trawlers' licences in 2025 for offences including saiko.

On land, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies calls galamsey a parallel political economy operating beyond effective government oversight. It estimates 50,000 illegal Chinese miners, supported by financiers, equipment suppliers and informal refiners.

It also warns that weakly governed mining sectors invite violent extremist groups, as in Burkina Faso and Mali. The Ghana Water Company recorded turbidity of 14,000 NTU in 2024, against the 2,000 NTU its plants can treat.

Three patterns repeat. The first is foreign capital behind local fronts, from trawlers to mining pits. The second is a weak deterrent: the "Galamsey Queen" was deported in 2018 and returned under a new identity, and saiko fines are rarely paid at the minimum.

The third is insiders: EIA calls the rosewood scheme institutionalised trafficking enabled by high-level corruption, and fishermen allege observers are bribed.

Blame is not one-sided. Ghana deported more than 4,500 Chinese miners in 2013, but their machines stayed and locals copied them. China's ambassador has also argued that Chinese nationals cannot hold mining licences and are often brought in by Ghanaians.

The laws exist: bans, tougher penalties, a Gold Board, a new fisheries act, NAIMOS. The test is enforcement against the people who profit, especially the officials who sign the permits. Ghana will need to enforce for its own reasons, or the forests, fish and rivers may run out first.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,

International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. (USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

Sources
Nairametrics, "Nigeria repatriates Chinese fugitive arrested in Ogun over ¥15.7 million rosewood smuggling": https://nairametrics.com/2026/09/17/nigeria-repatriates-chinese-fugitive-arrested-in-ogun-over-%C2%A515-7-million-rosewood-smuggling/

THISDAY, "Police Repatriates Chinese Wanted for Smuggling Endangered African Rosewood": https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/09/18/police-repatriates-chinese-wanted-for-smuggling-endangered-african-rosewood/

EIA, "BAN-boozled: How Corruption and Collusion Fuel the Illegal Rosewood Trade in Ghana": https://eia.org/report/20190730-banboozled-ghana-rosewood-report/

China-Global South Project, "Lack of Political Will in Ghana Fuels Illegal Rosewood Logging": https://chinaglobalsouth.com/analysis/lack-of-political-will-in-ghana-fuels-illegal-rosewood-logging-smuggling-to-china/

Foreign Policy, "How China's Appetite for Rosewood Fuels Illegal Logging in Ghana": https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/12/17/ghana-rosewood-illegal-logging-china/

Al Jazeera, "'Conflict timber': Gambian traffickers continue rosewood trade despite ban": https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/1/23/conflict-tinder-gambian-traffickers-continue-timber-trade-despite-ban

EJF, "Stolen at Sea" (saiko, 90% Chinese ownership, unpaid fines): https://ejfoundation.org/reports/stolen-at-sea

EJF, "Ghana given second yellow card warning from EU over illegal fishing": https://ejfoundation.org/news-media/ghana-given-second-yellow-card-warning-from-eu-over-illegal-fishing

EJF, "Warning to EU over imports from vessels fishing illegally in Ghana" (sardinella down 80%): https://ejfoundation.org/news-media/warning-to-eu-over-imports-from-vessels-fishing-illegally-in-ghana-1

Africa Defense Forum, "Ghana Expands Inshore Exclusion Zone to Curb IUU Fishing": https://adf-magazine.com/2025/09/ghana-expands-inshore-exclusion-zone-to-curb-iuu-fishing/

Africa Center for Strategic Studies, "Ghana's Illegal Gold Mining Crisis": https://africacenter.org/spotlight/galamsey-ghana-gold-mining-security/

Africa Defense Forum, "Decades Later, China's 'Go Out' Policy Fuels Ghana's Galamsey Crisis": https://adf-magazine.com/2025/12/decades-later-chinas-go-out-policy-fuels-ghanas-galamsey-crisis/

ISS Africa, "Ghana must stop galamsey before it sinks the country" (turbidity, 2013 deportations): https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ghana-must-stop-galamsey-before-it-sinks-the-country

Ecofin Agency, "NAIMOS, Ghana's New Tool to Crack Down on Illegal Mining": https://www.ecofinagency.com/news-industry/0207-47523-naimos-ghana-s-new-tool-to-crack-down-on-illegal-mining