The CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ken Ashigbey, has warned that Ghana risks losing its dominance in gold production as mining investors increasingly turn to other West African countries with friendlier fiscal regimes.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, he said Ghana’s current mining tax structure is making the country less attractive to investors at a time when regional competition is intensifying.

He argued that Ghana is already operating at the upper limit of the IMF’s recommended range for sharing mining profits between governments and investors.

“The upper limit is what we are hitting,” he said, warning that some mining firms are already under pressure because of high operating costs and low-grade mines.

According to him, the situation becomes worse when gold prices fall, as government’s share of mining revenues could exceed 60%.

“If you are an investor and the government is going to take above 60, and you have an Ivory Coast and other countries that were going to take less, definitely you are going to find out that some of your investments will move out,” he stated.

Mr Ashigbey disclosed that one mining company recently redirected funds intended for projects in Ghana to Côte d’Ivoire due to Ghana’s fiscal regime.

“The money moved into Côte d’Ivoire due to the fiscal regime that is not friendly, especially the royalty,” he revealed.

He criticised the increase in royalty rates from 5% to between 5% and 12%, saying it has significantly raised production costs for mining firms.

“What you have done is that you’ve added an additional cost to the production of these mining firms,” he said.

Mr Ashigbey noted that Ghana’s stable democracy and incentives under Act 703 previously helped attract investors.

However, he said neighbouring countries are quickly adopting similar strategies and becoming more competitive.

He pointed to Côte d’Ivoire’s growing ambitions in the mining sector.

“Their objective is that in the next 10 years they want to be the leading producer of gold in Africa,” he said. “It means they want to take over from us in Ghana.”

He cited mining giant Endeavour as one example of a company that shifted focus from Ghana to Côte d’Ivoire, where major gold discoveries were recorded last year.

Mr Ashigbey also warned that Guinea is emerging strongly in the mining space as geological advantages are not unique to Ghana.

“The geology is not restricted to Ghana,” he stressed.

He called on government to urgently reconsider the country’s fiscal policies to avoid losing more mining investments to competing destinations across West Africa.