Recited by Mama Marika

For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.Bob Boilen | January 28, 2022Born from the rich musical and historical heritage of San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia (the first free Black town in the Americas), Kombilesa Mí fuses the traditional sounds of the community with urban pop. The band's members experiment with the instruments created by their ancestors (and introduced to them when they were young) by layering them between new sounds.Over traditional percussion, metal handmade drums of their own design, and marímbula, Kombilesa Mí rhymes and raps in Spanish and the traditional Palenquero language, a fusion of African Bantu, Portuguese, French and English. During the performance, you'll hear them call their music "RFP," which means Rap Folklórico Palenquero, a combo of cumbia, son de negro, mapalé and son palenquero. --The globalFEST staffSET LIST"I Tando Pa Palenge""I A Piyá Bó""Kumo Kusa Tá""Los Peinados""Asina Gue""Ma Nduse""Ata Uto Begá"MUSICIANSAndris Padilla Julio: vocalsKeila Regina Miranda Pérez (KR MP): vocalsAlí Fernando Navarro (MCPM): vocals, tambor alegreMartín Elias Maza: tambor llamadorKendri Cassiani: tamborasOrlys Reyes: marímbulaEdwin Valdes: maracasCREDITSProduction: Guillermo CamachoAudio: Fernando ManzurVideo: Guillermo CamachoCamera: Royman Reales MartinezSpecial thanks: Real Films Cartagena, Viviana Benitez, novaproduccionesTiny Desk Meets globalFESTTiny Desk TeamProducer: Bob BoilenVideo Producer: Maia SternAudio Mixing: Josh RogosinTiny Production Team: Bobby Carter, Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Sofie Hernandez-SimeonidisExecutive Producer: Keith JenkinsSenior VP, Programming: Anya GrundmannglobalFEST Artistic TeamCo-Directors: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin2022 Curators: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin, Gabrielle DavenportglobalFEST Production TeamEvent Producer: Ian ThakeProducer: THE OFFICE performing arts + film*Video Producer: Karim TabbaaSpecial ThanksThe Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, JanArtsNYC, Valerie French (social media), Yuri Kwon of Pitch Perfect PR (publicity), Tamizdat (legal services) and Duane Morris (legal services)*THE OFFICE performing arts + film consists of Rachel Chanoff, Laurie Cearley, Olli Chanoff, Erica Zielinski, Nadine Goellner, Lynn Koek, Noah Bashevkin, Catherine DeGennaro, Gabrielle Davenport, Chloe Golding, Kyla Gardner, Tess Peppis, Zion Jackson, Scout Eisenberg and Jose Alvarado

Ghana just made $3 billion in only four months—without discovering a single new gold mine. So how did they pull it off? Here's a hint: Captain Ibrahim Traoré had something to do with it. But what’s the real story behind this unexpected windfall? Let’s dive in.

Sitting firmly in Africa's Golden Triangle with South Africa and Sudan, it was a top-tier producer. But in spite of this natural wealth, the nation hardly ever benefited from its hidden gems. Year after year, billions of dollars' worth of gold left Ghana, but only remnants returned to the country's economy.

Lack of ownership was the issue, not a shortage of gold. With everything but no control, this has been the silent tragedy of Ghana's mining industry. Foreign multinational corporations with headquarters in Canada, the UK, South Africa, and Australia were primarily in charge of running the nation's gold mines.

Under private contracts, these businesses extracted the gold, processed it abroad, and then sold it to customers throughout the world. The role of Ghana? Take a little cut, supply the dirt, and avoid the boardrooms where the real money is earned. The gold wasn't the only thing that remained.

It leaves behind data, pricing control, and profit transparency. Numerous mining companies underreported their profits, took use of legal loopholes, or just set up their operations in ways that allowed for tax evasion. The riches had already vanished abroad, concealed in offshore accounts and business spreadsheets, by the time government officials became involved.

Ghanaians pondered for years how we could have so many resources and yet face unemployment, debt, and a weak currency. So far, the response has been silence. Silence thereafter became the norm. Early in 2025, however, numbers—rather than a protest or a politician—broke that stillness.

Silent, emotionless figures. Ghana's gold earnings soared to $2.7 billion between January and April. That is more than three times what it made during the same time frame only two years prior.

Furthermore, in just four months, the quantity of gold exported virtually doubled, rising from about 7,500 kilograms in early 2023 to over 30,000 kilograms. These were neither estimations or optimistic forecasts. These were actual transactions that were documented in Ghana's central bank's books and monitored by the country's customs department.

Naturally, people wanted to know where all of this originated. Was there a fresh gold deposit discovered by Ghana? Did the output of mining suddenly increase overnight? The response was much more significant and fascinating. There was always gold. Ghana simply stopped allowing it to disappear.

It was not the mines that changed. Who was in charge of the exits changed. Ghana wasn't allowing private corporations to control what was left on the ground or where it went for the first time.

Now a gatekeeper was present. A fresh idea that wasn't from Accra was standing outside that fence. It originated in Ouagadougou, a nearby capital.

The Ghanaian government had not simply happened onto a fortunate quarter, you see. They were no longer content to be a passive participant in the mining industry after studying something and observing someone. Motivated by fresh leadership on the continent, they had taken a very conscious decision.

However, we must examine the impact that led to that change in order to comprehend how a silent policy decision generated billions of dollars in unexpected revenue. Not even the African Union, not the International Monetary Fund, and not a think tank. It came from Captain Ibrahim Traoré, a man in a green beret, a soldier rather than a scholar, a leader who had seized a nation that was in disarray and dared to defy the laws of international economics.

The new model was not created in Ghana. But they didn't hesitate when they saw it. They modified it.

After five days in Burkina Faso, I reflected on how the country made me feel. Needless to say, it wasn’t what I expected!

Watch the video for my thoughts!

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