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Ghana will remain an attractive investment destination for mining

Ghana will remain an attractive investment destination for mining  – Chamber of Mines Prez. assures

The Ghana Chamber of Mines has indicated that it will step up efforts aimed at making Ghana a household name for mining investors on the Africa continent.

President of the Chamber, Eric Asubonteng, says stakeholders’ plans were afoot to save Ghana from abject poverty and retrogression through revenue accrued from the country’s mineral resources.

Delivering an address at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Ghana Mining and Energy Summit (GMES) in Accra on Wednesday, under the theme, ‘Harnessing Mining and Energy to Accelerate National Development, he said the Chamber will do all it can to project Ghana as a regulated and fruitful hub within the mining sector.

“The Chamber will continue to work with stakeholders in the industry in advocating for a realistic fiscal and regulatory regime based on fair participation by all, predictability over time, as well as transparency and a level playing field for all companies. As an active participant in the development of regional and global initiatives aimed at creating reasonably innovative uniform mineral policies, Ghana must remain an attractive investment destination for mining. As a chamber, we are committed to working with the government on the full implementation of initiatives such as the African Mining vision and its resulting Action Plan to enable Ghana to use revenue generated from mineral resources to reduce poverty and accelerate social and economic development for the larger society.”

Mr. Asubonteng, who doubles as the Chief Executive Officer of the AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine, also said the country should show its preparedness towards using mining as one of the pivots by which the country’s socio-economic development revolves.

“In spite of the performance of the country in gold production, most large scale gold producers continue the necessary discipline of reorganizing and streamlining their business processes. As a country, the time has come to ask ourselves whether we are adequately taking advantage of Ghana’s mining opportunities to enhance the nation’s chances of improving lives and reducing poverty.”

Illegal mining clampdown 

Speaking on the effects of the seemingly lost fight against the activities of illegal mining, Mr. Asubonteng tasked government to holistically deal with the menace to ensure that, Ghana derives its full potential in the extractive sector and make it the best mining investment destination.

“We know that the government considers the mining and energy industries as key partners to accelerated economic growth and development. However, we would like to point out that, there remains a shadow about the clamping down of illegal mining activities and the streamlining of small scale sector to contribute to government revenue generation and socio-economic development. If we are going to reach our goal of complete economic transformation, we must ensure that every aspect of the economy plays a complementary role in the process to make Ghana the preferred mining investment destination in Africa.”

Support from the Chamber 

While calling on the government to contribute its quota towards the mining industry, the Chamber said it will not renege on its efforts to obtain maximum value of mineral resources for economic growth.

“The Chamber has demonstrated its readiness to continue to support initiatives and reforms aimed at ensuring mutually positive outcomes for all stakeholders in the extractive sectors, and actively enhance any policy to facilitate the payment of mineral revenues due to the government by the operators. It is our hope that the government will, in turn, utilize these transparently to achieve optimum development in the most efficient manner.”

About the summit

The GMES is a biennial exhibition and conference that focuses on the development of mining and energy resources as well as translating its benefits into sustainable development opportunities for all citizens of Ghana and to some extent, the West Africa sub-region.

By: Nii Larte Lartey|citinewsroom.com|Ghana

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