galamsey

Ghana is Africa's largest gold producer and the sixth largest in the world, but it is struggling to address widespread illegal gold mining, locally called "galamsey".

Concerns over the environmental impact of illegal gold mining – known in the country as “galamsey” – have become another major talking-point.

When President Akufo-Addo first took office in 2017, he acknowledged that some security personnel, businessmen and politicians were involved in galamsey.

He also points to an upsurge in small-scale mining in the area, known locally as galamsey, that’s polluted the water.

When he was in Ghana he worked for a time as an illegal gold miner, or galamsey as they are known, to raise money for his journey.