Ghana sold 25,292 carats of diamonds in 2020, a drop of 25,1% from 33,789 carats in 2019, according to reports citing the country's Chamber of Mines.
Ghana Business News reports that the decline in diamond sales was due to the suspension of production by the country’s only large-scale producer, Great Consolidated Diamond Company Ghana (GCDG).
The Ghanaian government took over GCDG from a local private investor, Jospong Group of Companies last year.
Jospong, which took over then Ghana Consolidated Diamond Company (GCD) in 2011 under a privatisation deal and renamed it GCDGL, had agreed to invest $100 million over five years to produce 1-million carats every year over the period.
However, Jospong only paid $3.8 million, forcing the government to take the company back.
Meanwhile, Ghana's gold production tumbled 12% to 4.02 million ounces in 2020 from 4.57 million ounces, the previous year.
The West African country, however, retained its position as the continent's leading gold producer despite the impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Reuters.
The report shows that gold output by Ghana's large-scale mines eased 4.8% to 2.8 million ounces last year, while that of the small-scale gold sector fell 26% to 1.18 million ounces.
Chamber of Mines president Eric Asubonteng said last year’s drop in output was the country's biggest since 2004.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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