The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Kenneth Ashigbey, has proposed the deployment of National Service personnel into geological exploration and mapping activities to strengthen Ghana’s extractive sector and unlock greater value from the country’s natural resources.

Speaking at the JoyBusiness Roundtable discussion on the theme, “To Nationalise or Transform: Rethinking Ghana’s Approach to Gold Mining, Oil and Critical Minerals,” Mr. Ashigbey said government should consider leveraging the annual pool of National Service personnel to support data generation and resource identification across the country.

According to him, investing in exploration remains critical if Ghana is to expand local participation and improve long-term returns from the mining and minerals industry.

“My suggestion for government is that the National Service people we bring out, let’s put them in the field to do exploration and mapping for us to support the sector and that will help,” he said.

Mr. Ashigbey explained that increasing exploration activities could provide valuable geological information, improve resource planning and create opportunities for local participation across the mining value chain.

He indicated that building a stronger foundation of local technical capacity would position Ghana to benefit more from its mineral wealth while attracting sustainable investment into the sector.

The proposal adds to ongoing discussions on how Ghana can transform its extractive industries through local capacity development, increased value retention and policies that support long-term growth beyond resource extraction.