Gov’t s new vision for mining

Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur has said the country is developing policies that will re-align mining contracts to match the Africa Mining Vision and the Mineral Development Policy of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

For that reason, Government is working to create a strong but fair regulatory framework for the industry to ensure the right policies and regulations are put in place for mining, to act as an agent that catalyses development in the country.

Amissah-Arthur, speaking at the Ghana Mining Summit, added that the efforts will also contribute to developing a mining sector more closely linked to the economy locally, regionally and nationally.

“In that connection, a comprehensive review of the mining sector is underway; being designed to provide fairness and equity, and at the same time provide the environment and opportunity for enhanced investment in the sector,” the vice president announced.

The African Mining Vision was adopted at the first African Union (AU) Conference of Ministers responsible for mineral resources held in Addis Ababa in 2008.

The action-plan for this vision comprises nine programme clusters of activities constructed around the key pillars of the vision, namely: Mineral Rents and Management; Geological and Mining Formation Systems; Building Human and Institutional Capacities; Artisanal and Small Scale Mining; Mineral Sector Governance; Research and Development; Environmental and Social issues; and Linkages as well as Diversification.

These are aimed at creating mutually beneficial partnerships between the state, private sector, civil society and local communities. It also seeks to create a knowledge-driven sector that catalyses and contributes to broad-based growth and development -- and is fully integrated into a single African market.

Amissah-Arthur said Ghana’s response to this action-plan was in three aspects: reviewing the sector’s governance and regulatory regimes; reviewing contracts and incentive framework, specifically stabilisation clauses and transfer pricing; as well as community issues and community participation, recognising that mining needs to support rural livelihoods.

He believed that mining must create employment, provide fair economic returns to the communities where it is carried out, and must protect the environment -- adding that: “it is in light of this that the minerals development fund is being considered to ensure local- focused infrastructural and economic development in the mining communities.”

The vice president assured that Government is committed to prudent utilisation of mineral revenues for the full benefit of the whole country.

Still ahead

Dr. Toni Aubynn, Chief Executive Officer of Chamber of Mines says Ghana continues to be ahead of other countries in the mining sector in the West Africa region.

“Associated with producing more gold than any country in the sub-region, Ghana has mined minerals for a much longer time than any country in the sub-region, and this is what makes Ghana a leader in mining,” he said.

Dr. Aubynn disclosed this at the Ghana Mining Summit 2013 in Accra.

He explained that in spite of the current fall of gold prices on the world market, the mining sector still contributes the highest tax revenue for government and employs over 28,000 in the large scale sector and an estimated over-one million people in the legal small-scale mining sector.

Dr. Aubynn underscored the importance of employing new strategies to help bring solutions in the country’s mining sector.

“The idea is that we should look for different solutions; we should unlearn the old ways of looking at things that are not working anymore, and create a platform for people to exchange ideas,” he said.