Stephen Yeboah on Green Mining, Mercury-Free Gold, and Ghana’s Commodity Future
In this interview, Stephen Yeboah, CEO and co-founder of Commodity Monitor Ghana, shares the company’s journey, vision, and impact in transforming Africa’s commodity value chain through engineering solutions, sustainable mining technology, and strategic trade networks.
Founded in 2017, Commodity Monitor operates at the intersection of commodity trading, logistics, and research, bridging producers and consumers across global markets. The company deals in both soft commodities like maize, wheat, cocoa, and soya, and hard commodities such as gold, oil and gas, and renewable energy technologies.
A core focus of the company is its commitment to green mining practices. In Ghana’s small-scale mining sector—which employs over two million people—Commodity Monitor introduced a mercury-free gold processing technology to replace outdated Chinese machinery. This innovation aligns with Ghana’s commitment to the Minamata Convention and addresses the environmental and health hazards of mercury use in gold mining. Their eco-friendly gold recovery system has delivered up to 87% gold recovery, a major improvement over traditional methods.
Stephen Yeboah emphasizes that formalizing small-scale mining through equipment financing, mining cooperatives, and government partnerships is critical for curbing illegal mining (galamsey) and boosting rural economic development in Ghana. The company’s model has even been replicated in Zambia, proving its scalability and impact.
Commodity Monitor is also positioning itself as a mine support services provider, registered with Ghana’s Minerals Commission, and extending its services to large-scale mining operations. With support from partners in South Africa, Canada, and China, the company continues to fine-tune its technology, adapting machines to local geological conditions—from Obuasi to Tarkwa, Wa, and the Upper East.
Beyond mining, Yeboah highlights the importance of value addition in agriculture, advocating for local processing in cocoa and cereals. He stresses that Africa’s arable land and smart agriculture technologies, such as AI in farming, should be harnessed to shift from import dependency to export leadership.
Looking ahead, Commodity Monitor’s vision is to become a pan-African engineering company that delivers customized solutions across agriculture, mining, energy, and oil and gas—all while promoting environmental sustainability, local beneficiation, and inclusive growth.
