FILE PHOTO: A brick of gold is seen on an artisanal trader's desk in Tarkwa, Ghana, September 16, 2015. Picture taken September 16, 2015. REUTERS/Matthew Mpoke Bigg/File Photo
ACCRA (Reuters) -Ghana President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday launched a task force backed by security forces to address illegal gold trading, as Africa's top producer seeks to recover billions of dollars lost to smuggling.
The task force is Ghana's first national anti-gold smuggling initiative. The government has previously launched efforts to sanitize artisanal mining but these were unsuccessful in curbing illegal extraction and preventing revenue losses that plague most African gold producers.
