ACEP calls for Mineral Revenue Management Law

The African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has called for the passage of a mineral revenue management law to guide the disbursement and utilisation of revenues in the mining sector.

Mr Benjamin Boakye, the Executive Director of ACEP said over the period that the country had been mining; there was no framework to govern the receipts and expenditure of revenues, which needed urgent attention.

Mr Boakye made the call in Accra at the launch of a campaign for the proposal of a mineral revenue management law.

He said ACEP believed that the Mineral Revenue Management Law was crucial to guaranteeing more efficient management and use of revenues from the mining industry.

He said the management of mineral revenue in the country had not been well organised as the country resorted to administrative process of disbursing 10 per cent of royalties to agencies and communities.

Mr Boakye noted that these processes were associated with challenges including; commodity price volatility; use of mineral revenues for consumption rather than investments; absence of accountability of state institutions that have responsibilities for the management of mineral revenues, among others.

He said the country was getting over GHS1.5billion annually from extraction of gold and other minerals, and as such it was imperative to institute effective mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability.

“We should consider the establishment of systems for assessing and collecting mineral revenues, and establish stabilisation mechanisms for insulating the economy from the effects of commodity price volatility”, he added.

According to him, the principle of revenue management would protect macroeconomic stability, ensure fairness in the distribution of mineral wealth benefits and sustain the fiscal contributions of mining after depletion.

Mr Alhassan Iddrisu Head of Programmes, ACEP said legal frameworks o resource governance ensure that government’s action was well coordinated in an efficient and effective manner for the benefit of all.

He noted that countries with mineral resources, when used well, would create greater prosperity for current and future generations while when used poorly would can cause economic instability.