The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), c, has challenged Africans living abroad to abandon what he described as a culture of “remittance-only” support and instead become investors, entrepreneurs and partners in Africa’s economic transformation.
According to him, the era where Africans in the diaspora merely send money home to support relatives must give way to strategic investments capable of creating jobs, industries and lasting wealth across the continent.
Speaking at the EMY Africa – Africa Rising Symposium in London on Thursday, Mr. Gyamfi declared that Africa’s rise would remain meaningless if its vast natural resources continued to enrich foreign economies while millions of African youth remained unemployed.
“Africa’s rise must not mean African resources rising into foreign balance sheets while the African youth remain unemployed. Africa’s rise must mean African resources creating African industries, African jobs, African brands, African wealth, African reserves and African dignity,” he declared.
Delivering an address on ‘The Growing Relationship Between Africa and its Global Diaspora, and Why This Moment Matters,’ the GoldBod CEO said Africa had reached a defining moment where its relationship with citizens abroad must evolve from emotional attachment into an economic partnership capable of reshaping the continent.
“Our task is not simply to celebrate the growing relationship between Africa and its diaspora. It is to convert that relationship into a productive force—capital that builds, institutions that endure and ownership that keeps more African value in African hands,” he said.
Mr. Gyamfi said the critical question confronting the continent was no longer whether Africa would rise, but who would own that rise.
“Will Africa rise as a supplier of raw materials, cheap labour and consumer markets for others? Or will Africa rise as a continent of producers, innovators, owners, financiers and builders?” he asked.
He described the African diaspora as one of the continent’s greatest untapped assets, insisting that beyond money, Africans abroad possess knowledge, technology, professional expertise, global networks and governance experience that could transform African economies if properly mobilised.
“The African diaspora is not a sentimental extension of Africa,” he said adding, “it is one of Africa’s most powerful strategic assets.”
The GoldBod boss observed that while remittances had over the years supported millions of African families by paying school fees, medical bills and housing costs, they could never substitute for productive investments capable of transforming national economies.
“This moment demands more than remittances. It demands investment. Remittances are lifelines, but investment builds self-sustaining engines. Remittances help households survive, but investment helps economies transform.”
Mr. Gyamfi therefore urged Africans abroad to channel more resources into manufacturing, agribusiness, commercial farming, logistics, information technology, renewable energy, healthcare, education, infrastructure and value addition.
He also appealed to diaspora professionals to contribute their expertise through mentorship, technology transfer and institution building.
“My appeal to the global African diaspora is simple: do not only send money home; send systems home. Do not only build houses; build enterprises. Do not only sponsor ceremonies; sponsor apprenticeships and entrepreneurship.”
Turning to Ghana’s economic reforms, Mr. Gyamfi said President John Dramani Mahama’s administration was deliberately repositioning the country to ensure that Ghanaians retained greater ownership of strategic sectors while welcoming responsible foreign investment that strengthened local capacity.
He said the establishment of GoldBod formed part of that broader national agenda. “Africa is rich in minerals, yet too often poor in the value created from them. We export what nature gave us and import what human ingenuity made of it.”
He explained that GoldBod was restructuring Ghana’s gold industry by formalising the supply chain, improving transparency, reducing gold smuggling, increasing foreign exchange earnings and creating greater opportunities for responsible investment and value addition.
Mr. Gyamfi disclosed that the Board would soon introduce gold-backed tokenisation investment assets aimed at enabling more Africans to own a direct stake in the continent’s mineral wealth.
“We will soon be rolling out our gold-backed tokenisation investment assets, which will open the way for more Africans to own the mineral wealth of Africa,” he announced.
Addressing Africa’s growing youth population, the GoldBod CEO warned that failure to provide employment and entrepreneurial opportunities could transform the continent’s demographic advantage into a demographic disaster.
Quoting the Mastercard Foundation’s Africa Youth Employment Outlook 2026, he noted that Africa currently has about 532 million young people between the ages of 15 and 35.
“The African youth does not need pity. The African youth needs access—to skills, financing, credit, markets, technology, mentorship and institutions that reward effort.”
Mr. Gyamfi further urged African governments to complement diaspora investment by ensuring policy certainty, transparent institutions, respect for contracts and investor confidence.
He concluded with a rallying call for Africans everywhere to take ownership of the continent’s future.
“The question before us is not whether Africa will matter in this century. Africa will surely matter. The question is whether Africa will matter on terms shaped by Africans.”
He added: “Africa’s youth are waiting for opportunity, not charity. Africa’s resources are waiting for African ownership, not discovery. We are done with predicting Africa’s future. The time to build that future is now.”
