Members of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, an association of mining companies operating the country have pledged their support for the new Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu to enable him implement policies and programmes to speed up the growth and development of the mining sector.
They made call when they paid a courtesy call on the minister at his office on Friday to congratulate him on his recent appointment as the sector minister.
The President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Kwame Addo-Kufour who led the delegation including the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Sulemanu Koney, assured Mr Amewu that the chamber would collaborate with his ministry to push the sector forward.
Mr Addo-Kufuor said: “We are here to share ideas on how to partner with the government to execute its initiatives that will be mutually beneficial to the country and mining industry”.
He added that; “the industry seeks the ministry’s partnership in deepening the role of the mining sector as an enabler of manufacturing and development”.
Opportunities abound in the mining and minerals value chain for the nation to create a viable and competitive industrial sector, Mr Addo-Kufuor stated.
He used the opportunity to invite the minister to the Chamber’s 89th Annual General Meeting and the 2017 Ghana Mining & Energy Summit as their Special Guest of Honour.
The Ghana Mining & Energy Summit opening ceremony would be held on the 30th May, 20017, while the Chamber’s 89th Annual General Meeting would take place at the Accra International Conference Centre on the 2nd June 2017.
Mining contributions
Mr Addo-Kufuor noted: “The contribution of mining to Ghana’s economic progress is well documented. However, we believe that there is more scope for accelerated economic development on the back of the minerals and mining industry.
Except in 2015, the mining industry has been the leading contributor to the nation’s fiscal purse in the last five years. Its contribution to direct domestic revenue mobilised by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) improved from GHC1.3 billion in 2015 to GHC1.6 billion in 2016, representing a growth rate of 23 percent. The 2015 performance represents 15 percent of GRA’s total direct domestic collections, according to him.
Touching on merchandise exports, the President of Ghana Chamber of Mines emphasised: “The mining sector is the country’s leading source of export earnings. In 2016, exports of minerals accounted for 46 percent of gross merchandise exports”.
“Aside from its significant role in improving the balance of payments position, particularly in the context of an IMF programme (Extended Credit Facility Programme), it is also worth noting that it was a major contributory factor for the deceleration in the depreciation of the local currency relative to other traded currencies. Member companies of the Chamber have returned an average of 73 percent ($2.4 billion) of their mineral revenue since 2009”.
Challenges
On delays in permitting of projects which is a challenge facing the mining companies, Mr Addo-Kufuor used the occasion to appeal to the sector minister to work with his colleague at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation to expeditiously address the challenge.
The proportion of the total mineral royalty which goes directly to the 14 district assemblies in whose jurisdiction mining takes place represents only 4.95 percent of mineral royalty payments.
In 2016, mining companies paid mineral royalty in the amount of GHC550 million to the government. This implies that only GHC27 million is expected to be returned to the district assemblies for development, according to him.
Mr Addo-Kufuor stressed: “This amount is woefully inadequate for the stimulation of infrastructural development in the mining communities”.
However, the President of the Chamber noted that the mining companies were comforted by the minister’s publicly stated commitment to increase the overall population of royalty revenue ploughed back to the mining communities to 20 percent from a gross 10 percent.
Besides these, he lamented about the worsening scale of illegal mining poses a major challenge for the country’s natural resource sector and fiscal purse.
Welcoming the Ghana Chamber of Mines’ delegation, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu assured them that the government would address the illegal mining menace holistically.
“Mining in the forest and in water bodies must be stopped. We will take the fight to the illegal mining. We therefore need the Chamber’s collaboration”. he stressed.
Mr Amewu also assured the mining industry players: “The government policies are geared towards boosting the growth of the mining industry”.
“We can achieve the benefits of the mining industry, if we work hand-in-hand with the mining firms. My doors are opened for your suggestions”, he told the executives of the mining chamber.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
