Guinea bans exports of raw gold to boost local refining

The prohibition is intended to boost the country's economy by refining gold domestically. Guinea President Mamadi Doumbouya bans raw gold exports Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Guinea's president wants to boost the economy by exporting refined gold Guinea bans exports of raw gold to boost local refining Guinea has banned the export of unrefined gold in an effort to promote domestic processing of the precious metal. The policy - effective immediately - comes after Guinea's President Mamadi Doumbouya met industrial and artisanal gold producers and buyers, and aims to boost the economy and create more jobs. "Guinea will now require its gold to be processed within its own borders. Raw gold will no longer leave Guinea," he said, adding that other countries have been reaping the economic benefits of processing and trading their raw materials. Guinea is Africa's sixth largest gold producer, according to the World Gold Council. Guinea is Africa's sixth largest gold producer, Other African nations have taken similar steps to increase domestic processing and value addition in the mining sector in recent years. In Tanzania and Uganda, the export of unprocessed minerals and metals such as gold and copper is already banned, while Ghana is set to ban raw gold exports by 2030. Africa's top lithium producer, Zimbabwe, has banned concentrate exports of the metal used to make batteries from 2027. Africa's top lithium producer, Zimbabwe, has banned concentrate exports of the metal used to make batteries from 2027. Gold is one of Guinea's main exports, shipping more than 22 tonnes of the metal in the first quarter of this year, according to the authorities. A new refinery is near completion in the capital, Conakry, where the country's gold will be sent before processing and export. It has a reported capacity of 250 tonnes a year so should be able to handle the country's current production. Foreign companies operating in the country have been warned that they risk losing their licenses and having their mining contracts terminated if they violate the directive. Guinea is also the world's largest producer of bauxite, used to make aluminium. A head and shoulders shot of Mamady Doumbouya wearing a tracksuit, baseball cap and dark glasses. From camouflage to tracksuits - Guinea's junta leader becomes civilian president A close up of Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité. He is wearing military clothing - a red beret with a gold pin on the side and green fatigues. he is outdoors. Army commander convicted of Guinea stadium massacre dies in prison A split image of Samuel L Jackson smiling and Ciara performing From Hollywood to the homeland: Why African countries are courting black American stars Foday Musa, who has a white goatee, looks solemn. He wears a yellow and black top and white and black knitted skull cap and behind him is a window with blue painted frames. My children were recruited in a trafficking scam. I joined a police hunt to find them A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News Africa Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent. for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica Martha Karua is a lawyer representing detained Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye who is on trial for treason. An outbreak of Ebola in DR Congo involves a rare species of the virus and is in an area affected by conflict. Abiy Ahmed's party retains its huge majority despite unrest in several parts of Ethiopia and tensions with its neighbours. Dalradian says its planning application is for an "environmentally responsible, economically transformative underground mine". Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité was convicted over the 2009 massacre in which more than 150 people were killed. Cellou Dalein Diallo accuses the junta-leader-turned-president of erasing political threats. "This is the only hustle we know," miners tell the BBC as they try their luck at the site in Springs. Ciara and Samuel L Jackson are among the big names who have become citizens of African countries in recent years.