Ghana plans the role of mining in its future

Ghana has launched a process to draw the greatest possible benefit from its gold mining industry, leveraging the strong macro-economic contribution of mining to increase prosperity.

Based on an in-depth economic analysis commissioned by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), and the Ghana Chamber of Mines, the process brings together mining companies, government, and diverse parts of society to plan for ways to increase the jobs and revenues that mining can bring, directly and indirectly.

The report by Steward Redqueen and the African Center for Economic Transformation estimates the socio-economic impact of the large-scale gold mining sector in Ghana from 2010 to 2022, and provides robust data on the industry, as a basis for informed discussion, policy making and operational planning.

ICMM has worked in Ghana at various times since 2006, implementing its Mining Partnerships for Development process that is designed to build collaborative engagement between all stakeholders, using authoritative data as the basis for discussion.

The current discussions are aimed at strengthening the positive contributions of Ghana’s well established mining industry, through the peak of the cycle and in order to plan for an eventual tail-off in production.

The Ghana Chamber of Mines CEO, Sulemanu Koney, said that the process had already proven helpful by convening 70 stakeholders at a workshop in April.

“The most important aspect of this initiative is the opportunity to bring together diverse representatives to discuss potential partnerships to progress the priority actions,” said Mr Koney.

“Ghana is proving the value of the collaborative approach,” said ICMM CEO Tom Butler. “When all stakeholders work together, the mining industry can make an important contribution to broad based, inclusive development”.

In 2013, mining accounted for 19 per cent of all direct tax payments, the report shows. Under some price scenarios, production volumes could decline by up to 4.6 per cent per year.

Whether to mitigate the effect of such a decline or to maximise the contribution of mining at high volumes, the report identifies that the sample of seven mines included in the study are projected to employ 110,000 people directly and indirectly annually, support 15 indirect jobs for every mining company job, provide US$1.60 to the Government of Ghana for every US$1 of mining company profits and support 105 jobs for every US$1 million increase in local procurement.

The study also identifies five priority areas for action by relevant stakeholders in Ghana including, improvements to the mining policy framework, greater clarity on the management and use of mineral revenues, development of a comprehensive national action plan to increase local procurement, development of a strategic framework for social investment aligned with local authority spending and capacity building among different stakeholders.