BUILDING CAPACITY FOR DOMESTIC MINERS IN GHANA

By Jubi Gloria 

Ghana is one of Africa's largest gold producers with over a dozen large-scale mining companies and hundreds of registered small-scale mining groups. Yet the government's share of the minerals sector is less than 10 percent which means we don't own these resources. An Economic Policy Analyst, Mr Enoch Akonah has therefore suggested that it is time to amend the Minerals Mining Act 1985 to introduce a second tier between large-scale miners and small-scale miners so that Ghana can intentionally build the capacity of local miners who in the next 10 years could grow to become multinationals like Newmont.

BACKGROUND

The most commercially exploited mineral in Ghana is Gold,  accounting for about 95 per cent of the country's mineral revenue. During an interview with An Economic Policy Analyst, Mr Enoch Akonah, he made it clear that our ownership stake in the Minerals Mining sector is about 10 per cent and something must be done to change it. He was optimistic the solution to this challenge was to build the capacity of domestic miners. He pointed out that the revenue foreign miners make goes back to their parent companies abroad but with the introduction of a middle tier for the mining sector,  the country can produce more and be like Newmount in the next 10 years. Mr. Enoch Akonah is therefore calling for the amendment of the Mining Act 1985.

The Economic Expert also elaborated on the current state of our mining sector about our balance of trade which records the export and import revenues of our minerials sector. He stated that though Ghana's exports are increasing the real impact it has on the economy is not much, which is why building domestic capacity is key. Consequently, he advised that the Government should make mining attractive to local investors.

The people of Ghana have been mining Gold and other valuable minerals for centuries. The Government must therefore implement policies which ensure the country gets high revenue and foreign exchange to improve the standard of living of its citizenry.