Supporters of the government argue that Ghana is simply doing what many resource-rich countries have long sought to do -- ensure that a greater share of mineral wealth remains in local hands.

For South African readers, the question may sound uncomfortably familiar.

When does legitimate economic transformation become something else?

When does a policy designed to increase local participation in the economy begin to look like a transfer of opportunity towards politically connected insiders?

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Those questions increasingly surround Ghana's mining sector, where a programme of resource nationalism championed by President John Mahama's government is colliding with growing concerns from investors, mining executives and opposition politicians.

The debate followed Mahama all the way to London recently.

On a state visit, the Ghanaian leader met King Charles III and held talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as part of a programme aimed at promoting his flagship "Reset Agenda" and attracting fresh international capital into the West African nation.

But the red carpets failed to draw attention from a series of disputes involving major mining assets, international investors and Engineers & Planners (E&P), the mining company owned by the president's younger brother, Ibrahim Mahama.

Connected interests or resource nationalism?

Critics argue that strategic mining assets are increasingly gravitating towards politically connected interests under the banner of resource nationalism.

Supporters of the government argue that Ghana is simply doing what many resource-rich countries have long...