Sam Jonah credits Acheampong with advancing Ghanaian ownership of mineral wealth

Business leader Sir Sam Jonah has credited former Head of State General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong with advancing Ghanaian participation and ownership in the country’s mining and timber industries.

Delivering the Second General I.K. Acheampong Memorial Lecture in Accra on Friday, November 13, 2026, Mr Jonah said Acheampong’s government introduced policies in 1972 that gave the state controlling interests in major companies, including Ashanti Goldfields and the Consolidated African Selection Trust.

He said the measures were intended to increase Ghanaian control over the country’s natural resources while retaining foreign partners, their capital and technical expertise.

“For the first time since the Portuguese landed at Elmina, the majority of the wealth beneath Ghanaian soil belonged to Ghanaians,” he said.

Sir Jonah said Acheampong’s government did not rely on force to take control of the mining operations but retained foreign partners under management agreements.

He said the government required the companies to locate their head offices in Accra, give the state a controlling role and train Ghanaians for senior management positions.

“But he insisted on three things: that the head office be in Accra, so that the decisions that mattered were taken by people who had to look Ghanaians in the eye; that the state hold the controlling voice; and that a Ghanaian be trained and placed in the deputy managing director's chair, with the clear expectation that the top chair would follow,” he said.

Sir Sam Jonah said the policy helped create opportunities for Ghanaian professionals in the mining industry.

The University of Cape Coast Chancellor said he was among those who benefited from the policy.

“In due course, I was that Ghanaian. So were many others, in many companies. A whole generation of Ghanaian engineers, geologists and accountants came up through the door that decree opened,” he said.

Sir Jonah had earlier disclosed that he joined Ashanti Goldfields in 1969 as an underground miner at Obuasi, before the government took control of the company in 1972. He later rose to become its chief executive.

His remarks formed part of a broader assessment of Acheampong’s leadership and the former military government's approach to Ghanaian participation in strategic industries.