Illicit Chinese Small-Scale Mining in Ghana: Beyond InstitutionalWeakness?

While the engagement of Chinese migrants in small-scale mining in Ghana has gained
traction in scholarship, the extant literature pays little attention to how the relationship between
the so-called formal institutions (e.g., the Minerals Commission and Ministry of Land and Natural
Resources) and informal institutions (e.g., the chieftaincy and customary land institutions) enables
illegalities in the mining industry. This paper addresses this gap in the literature, focusing on the
relationship between formal state and informal customary land institutions in the small-scale mining
sector. Using an institutional analytical framework, we argue that the increasing involvement of
the Chinese in small-scale mining in Ghana is an expression of a bigger and deep-seated problem
characterized largely by uncoordinated interactions between key state and customary institutions.
This, we suggest, creates parallel operations of formal and informal systems that promote different
levels of agency and maneuvering among actors—breeding uncertainty, bureaucratic logjams, and
illegalities in the mining industry. Based on our findings, we recommend that a more efficient
coordination between the relevant state and traditional land governing institutions could curb the
proliferation of illegal mining activities, and in particular, those involving Chinese migrants. As part
of the conclusion, we suggest that future empirical research be conducted to explore the interactions
between formal and informal institutions and how they affect mining activities.