Gold Fields Ghana pays $7million dividend to gov’t

Gold Fields Ghana Limited has presented a cheque for $7 million as interim dividend to government on its 2015 accounts.

The amount is in respect of government’s 10 percent shares in Gold Fields’ Tarkwa and Damang Mines.

Mr. Alfred Baku, Executive Vice President and Head of the Gold Field’s West Africa Region, who presented the cheque said the payment was the company’s demonstration of confidence in the country.

He said management recognized government’s support to the company’s operations and that it would continue to keep its commitment to the government.

He,however, said the mining industry was going through many challenges; the most crucial being the energy situation, leaving the company with no alternative than to shed about 30 per cent of power.

Mr. Baku expressed the hope that the energy situation would be tackled by the government as quickly as possible to provide relieve for industries.

He said the issue of stability agreement was of huge interest to Gold Fields investors and wanted to know the extent of work of the committee set up to review the agreements.

“The question that most analysts ask is why Gold Fields is not having a stability agreement with Ghana just as some other mining companies have,” he said.

He cited the delay in the refund of Value Added Tax as one of the major concerns of the mining industry.

He said Gold Fields had made significant contributions to Ghana’s economy not only by way of paying taxes, dividends and royalties, but also through offering direct and indirect employment.

Mrs Mona Quartey, Deputy Finance Minister, who received the cheque on behalf of the government, congratulated Gold Fields for declaring and paying its dividend despite the challenges facing the industry.

She assured the company that government was working to resolve the energy crisis while Parliament would be looking at the stability agreement when it resumes sitting to ensure that government got a template to use for all mining companies.

On the Value Added Tax refund, Mrs Quartey said the monies would be paid in due course.