Cabinet approves minerals and mining policy framework

The Minerals and Mining Policy has finally been approved by Cabinet.

The policy document, when fully operational, will define usage of the country’s mineral resources for national development, and will form the basis for a   strategic plan for the minerals and mining sector in the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda II (2014-2017), which will formally be launched by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in the coming months.

The much-awaited policy has seen a series of delays since it was initiated in 1999.  It went through various stakeholder consultations and independent reviews in 2001, now reaching its present final stage.

The policy seeks to provide a standard framework for implementing the various mineral laws in the country, as it intends to diversify the country’s export base and thereby increase foreign exchange earnings. It will as well optimise tax revenue generation to support development, generate skilled employment, develop local capacity for the mineral industry, and create demand for local goods and services.

The policy contributes to infrastructure development, produces raw materials for local usage, contributes to the transformation of mining -- especially in rural communities, serves as catalyst for wider investment in the economy, and collaborates in the harmonisation of mineral policies in ECOWAS and in Africa.

Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, speaking at the official opening of the Minerals Commission’s GH¢5.8million new head office building -- a one-stop-shop to deal with mineral licences and related payments at Cantonment in Accra -- confirmed that government last year developed a new minerals and mining policy to establish a comprehensive framework for mining to catalyse sustainable development.

He challenged the Minerals Commission to expedite action on processes for acquiring the new mining licences.

“It is the delays that lead people to become informal in the way they operate. The commission should develop a system to manage the activities of small-scale miners.”

He said to achieve the framework’s goals, the Commission was task to improve its infrastructure and systems to reduce delays in the acquisition of mineral rights.

The Vice President explained that in the last three decades the minerals sector has gone through significant challenges, and at various points in the 70s and 80s could not attract the level of investment needed to maintain growth of the economy.

Thus, he said, the sector is characterised by falling production levels, inadequate machinery and poor infrastructure that contributes to reduced unemployment and loss of skilled personnel in the mining sector.

He recounted that the economic reforms of the 1980s identified the minerals sector as one of the sectors that has the potential to enhance the country growth and development.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur stated that in the three decades of its existence the mining sector can boast of major successes -- adding that for the last decade alone about US$15billion in investments have been channeled into the sector. 

He stated that the sector currently contributes slightly more than two percent of GDP, about 40 percent of the country’s merchandise export, and about eight per cent of the tax effort over the past decade; and the sector also employs about 120,000 people directly.    

He commended the Minerals Commission for the innovation of relying on internally generated funds to construct the new head office, as well as using local engineers to build the edifice.

“Other government subvented agencies must learn from the example of the Minerals Commission and wean themselves off government’s support,” he said.         

Dr. Toni Aubynn, Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, pledged to continue implementing the objectives and strategies contained in the minerals and mining policy document when it is officially adopted, to ensure the country maximises the benefits from exploitation of its mineral resources under win-win circumstances.

Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Deputy Minister of lands and Natural Resources, indicated that the one-stop-shop process will go a long way to enhance of the Commission’s operations.   

The new facility which is in keeping with the government’s vision is to make the Commission a One-Stop-Shop organisation for effective and accountable in the management of mineral rights and related revenues.