Between the Africa Mining Vision and the neo-patrimonial state: The agency gap in Ghana’s regulation of artisanal and small-scale gold mining

ABSTRACT This article critically examines the discourse of African agency in global affairs via Ghana’s failure to implement the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) component of the Africa Mining Vision (AMV). If implemented effectively, the AMV would serve as a signal example of African agency, demonstrating the capacity and autonomy of African states to govern their natural resources in the interests of their own development. One of the pillars of the AMV is a well-governed ASM sector, to promote sustainable rural livelihoods in Africa. However, in the case of Ghana, a leading member of the Africa Union, it is argued that neo-patrimonial practices have contributed immensely to a failure to implement its ASM policies. This fact points to a gulf between collective African agency on the global stage and the acute ineffectiveness of African states to implement the AMV, a continental development blueprint which has often been used to illustrate this very agency.