Ghana Tightens Visa Rules for Chinese Amid Mining Crackdown

Ghana has tightened visa requirements for Chinese citizens as it steps up a clampdown on illegal gold mining and smuggling that has eroded state revenues and damaged the environment, officials said on Tuesday.

The West African nation, the continent’s top gold producer, will no longer accept group visa applications from Chinese nationals. Instead, each applicant must attend an individual interview before travelling, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said.

Accra has linked the change to a surge in illegal small-scale mining, known locally as “galamsey”, in which some Chinese nationals have been implicated.

In April, the government barred all foreigners from trading in the local gold market as part of wider efforts to curb illicit extraction and exports.

Ghana, which produces more gold than South Africa and ranks among the world’s top six producers, has long struggled to control unlicensed operations that pollute rivers, destroy farmland and funnel bullion out of official channels.

The government says tighter border and visa controls are needed to halt the losses.

Elsewhere on the continent, governments are also under pressure to police Chinese business activities more aggressively.

In Kenya, the government in 2023 temporarily shut China Square, a Chinese-owned retail store in Nairobi, after local traders accused it of predatory pricing and unfair competition.

The dispute highlighted wider concerns over the influx of cheap Chinese imports, which small shopkeepers say undercut their businesses.

Then Trade Minister Moses Kuria said at the time that Kenya welcomed Chinese investors who manufacture locally but would act against foreign traders whose practices harm domestic firms.

The Anti-Counterfeit Authority later cleared China Square of selling fake goods, but the store remained a flashpoint in debates over fair trade.

Chinese investment has transformed infrastructure, mining and retail across Africa, but critics say weak enforcement has enabled smuggling, tax evasion and environmental damage.

Governments from Ghana to Kenya are signalling they will scrutinise business practices more closely while trying to preserve wider economic ties with Beijing.

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