SoNA 2021: Govt advances scouting for investors as Akufo Addo snubs resistance against bauxite mining at Atewa

The president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that his government intends to go ahead with the proposed bauxite exploration in the Atewa Forest, completing snubbing resistance from NGOs and CSOs spearheading a campaign against the plan.

Addressing the Parliament of Ghana during his first State of the Nation Address during his second term as president, he revealed that the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) has made good progress on the bauxite exploitation program which is expected to drive the country’s industrial transformation agenda.

“We are in the final stage of an open and transparent investor engagement process, and are in negotiations to select strategic investors to partner GIADEC for the bauxite mining and alumina refinery projects. The selected partners will be announced imminently”, he said.

The Atewa forest is also a critical water source, housing the headwaters of the Birim, Densu and Ayensu rivers, which provide water to local communities as well as millions of people downstream, including in the capital, Accra.

It is home to at least 50 mammal species, more than 1,000 species of plants, at least 230 species of birds and more than 570 butterflies. The Forest Reserve is located in Kyebi in the Eastern Region of Ghana, the President’s hometown.

Civil society groups are demanding answers from the President regarding the decision to embark on mining activities with the potential of destroying the reserve in his backyard.

In 2019, Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assured that the ecosystem of the Atewa Forest will not be gravely impacted by the mining activities. According to him, the cutting-edge technology to be deployed will ensure the protection of the animal and plant species.

“The technology of today is much more sensitive to these issues because of the pressure that is being brought on the bauxite and oil companies to take it into account. So, to some extent, beginning now, the full-scale exploitation of Ghanaian bauxite resources, we are in a better place, technology-wise, than we would have been 20, 30 years ago,” the President said.

Not long ago, three global manufacturing companies such as BMW Group, Tetra Pak, and Schűco International KG responded to concerns over the proposed use of aluminium to be mined from the bauxite deposit in the Atewa Forest Reserve.

Their positions were communicated in letters to the Concerned Citizens of Atewa Landscape (CCAL), the grassroots movement advocating against bauxite mining in Atewa Forest.

The three companies are all members of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) established to certify members and their products in the bauxite-aluminium supply chain that meet its sustainability standards.

While the companies in their letters recognize the Ghana government’s desire to develop the aluminium sector for economic development and poverty reduction, they have firmly stated that their commitments to sustainability would not be compromised.

All three companies pointed to their endorsement of the ASI’s social and environmental standards and said they also want their suppliers to meet these same standards.

Meanwhile, many Ghanaians have signed onto an online petition launched to stop the mining of bauxite in one of the country’s key forest reserves.