Professor of Finance and economist at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Godfred Bokpin, has criticised attempts to justify the destruction of Ghana’s environment with the macroeconomic gains associated with gold trading.

Prof Bokpin argued that Ghana could not claim to be better off while forests, water bodies and ecosystems were being destroyed through irresponsible mining, commonly known as galamsey.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, August 24, while discussing the reported losses under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP), he said the environmental costs of gold production must be properly accounted for when assessing the sector’s contribution to the economy.

“It is a selfish position to think that you can cause such harm to the environment and water bodies in the name of macroeconomic stability and say you have gained,” he said.

Prof Bokpin maintained that the assessment of Ghana’s gold sector should go beyond foreign exchange earnings, reserve accumulation and improvements in key economic indicators.

He called for a comprehensive value-chain analysis that takes into account the cost of environmental degradation and the loss of ecological integrity before determining whether the country had truly benefited from the gold boom.

According to him, Ghana risks sacrificing its long-term sustainability for short-term economic gains if environmental destruction continues to be treated as an acceptable cost of economic growth.

He said responsible leadership required policymakers to pursue economic policies that protect the country’s natural resources while creating sustainable prosperity.

“Any growth model that is heavily reliant on environmental destruction and primary commodities is never sustainable,” he warned.

Listen to him in the audio below.