Renowned economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana, Prof. Godfred Bokpin, has urged the government to stop relying heavily on gold and other finite resources as a foundation for Ghana’s economic recovery.
In an interview with ABC News GH on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, Prof. Bokpin cautioned that while increased export earnings from gold and cocoa have recently boosted Ghana’s reserves, it is unsustainable in the long term.
“You cannot pivot an economy’s resilience totally on the fact that you have reserves which is simply because gold export earnings, cocoa export earnings have gone up,” he said.
Prof. Bokpin stressed the need to embed economic reforms in a broader vision of sustainability and innovation, warning that overdependence on finite resources poses long-term risks to economic and environmental security.
According to him, the government’s current strategy, which links currency stability and foreign exchange inflows to increased gold output, is dangerously short-sighted.
“If we were mindful of sustainability and growing a green economy, any serious Ghanaian will be concerned that we are destroying our water bodies simply because it is giving us stability of the currency,” he said.
Prof. Bokpin emphasized that this short-term thinking undermines Ghana’s long-term development and contradicts global commitments to environmental protection and climate resilience.
“We should be looking at devising innovative ways, idea-generation economy that moves our growth model from environmentally destructive activities to a more sustainable path,” he said
Prof. Bokpin’s comments come amid growing concerns over environmental degradation, especially from mining activities, which he says present an “existential threat” to the country if not addressed through structural reforms.
