Vice President and flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has outlined comprehensive measures he believes will address a general concern with regard to management of Ghana’s natural mineral resources.
Since independence, Ghana’s natural minerals resource, from gold to oil, have been largely exploited by foreign interests, leaving Ghana, the owners of the minerals, with a paltry percentage which rakes in insufficient revenues.
From one regime to the other, the status quo has remained.
However, Vice President Bawumia believes things must change and has made comprehensive proposals to change the game for the country and next generations.
Dr. Bawumia, who first made the call during his policy address in February, believes Ghana must fully own its natural mineral resources by investing in exploration.
Speaking at the Ghana Mining Vision in Sunyani organized by the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Dr. Bawumia, while outlining what he will do as President to combat illegal mining, reiterated his call for full Ghanaian ownership of the minerals and his plans to make this a reality.
“The overarching objectives (of his policies) are to usher Ghana into a golden age for the maximization of the benefits from our natural resources like gold, lithium, bauxite and so on through value addition and Ghanaian ownership.”
“We want to invest by providing funding to the Geological Survey Department and the Universities to explore. Once they explore and we find, I believe that the concession should be fully owned by Ghanaians. That will be the objective of my government by the grace of God”, Dr. Bawumia said.
On promoting responsible mining, Dr. Bawumia reinforced a number of his policies including setting up a minerals development bank to assist small-scale miners into medium-scale miners.
“We would also convert many abandoned mining shafts into community mining schemes and also also involve our traditional rulers…We are also going to train and constantly orientate small-scale miners as well as introduce introduce curriculum at all schools to study some basics about mining, reclamation and mining.”
“Through these bold policies, we want to raise our total mining contribution to GDP and significantly increase or enhance income to government from all mining and related activities. While at it, we will continue to develop policies and stimulate investment activities and our potential in strategic and critical minerals.”
Beyond exploring, finding and owning the minerals, Dr. Bawumia is also targeting value addition to Ghana’s minerals.
“Our goal for building a robust, small-scale mining sector is to become a leading player in Africa across several chains both in primary and refined products while exporting high value-added downstream products…We have to do these by developing policies that ensure overall investment attractiveness in the sector whilst driving a policy to ensure indigenous ownership and participation in large-scale mining.”
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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