The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ken Ashigbey, is advocating a stronger Ghanaian presence across the country’s extractive industries through strategic partnerships with multinational firms rather than outright exclusion.

Speaking at the JoyBusiness Roundtable discussion held on the theme, “To Nationalise or Transform: Rethinking Ghana’s Approach to Gold Mining, Oil and Critical Minerals,” Mr Ashigbey said Ghana must deliberately increase local participation and value capture across the mining and extractive value chain while maintaining an investment-friendly environment.

According to him, the country should focus on expanding Ghanaian ownership and participation in the sector through joint ventures that combine local knowledge with international capital and expertise.

“Let’s increase our Ghanaian take, increase what we take in the value chain, let’s get Ghanaian ownership, but it has to be a partnership between Ghanaians and multinationals.

"They need to be in the space to work with Ghanaians and do joint ventures because what it does is when you have these big players, it helps attract investors,” he said.

Mr Ashigbey argued that multinational companies continue to play an important role in attracting investment, transferring skills and creating opportunities that can strengthen domestic businesses.

He stressed that the conversation on natural resource management should move beyond nationalisation and instead focus on building a model that allows Ghanaian companies to grow while benefiting from global partnerships.

The discussion forms part of broader debates around how Ghana can maximise returns from its gold, oil and emerging critical minerals sectors while ensuring more local ownership, value addition and sustainable economic benefits.