Sam Jonah credits Acheampong with advancing Ghanaian ownership of mineral wealth

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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.