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The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has called on the government to restrict future mining leases to promote local ownership of mines.
The Institute stressed that the government must adopt a clear national policy that prohibits the granting of new mining leases or the extension of existing ones to foreign entities.
"Instead, a comprehensive transition framework must be developed to rapidly and sustainably move the mining sector towards full Ghanaian ownership," the Institute added.
At a media briefing held in Accra, senior members of the IEA stressed that it was important to leverage local expertise and limit foreign investment to service contracts.
The media briefing was jointly addressed by a Senior fellow of the IEA, Dr Eric Oduro Osae; Chairman of the Institute, Dr Charles Mensa and a former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo.
Dr Osae, who delivered the press statement, said the country possessed substantial technical and managerial expertise in the mining sector and that it was time to harness that capacity to manage mineral resources in the national interest.
He stressed that in cases where specialised foreign expertise was unavoidable, it should be engaged "only through time-bound service contracts."
Such a model, he explained, would ensure complete ownership of mining operations and all associated revenue remained with the state or Ghanaian entities.
Dr Osae also underscored the need for timely transition planning to prevent lease extensions.
He noted that to prevent lease extensions being justified on grounds of smooth transition or protecting the livelihoods of local mine workers, the government must issue formal notices in good time to all foreign mining companies whose leases were due to expire.
"These notices should trigger early and transparent enforcement processes aimed at ensuring an orderly and timely transfer of operations to local ownership and control," he said.
Dr Osae said it had come to the attention of the IEA that Parliament had ratified a 12-month non-renewable mining lease granted to the Aboso Goldfields Limited.
He described that development as worrying because the IEA thought it was a golden opportunity to halt the granting of a further lease to foreign entities to pave the way for immediate assumption of local ownership that natural resource.
He said the IEA further acknowledged the government's decision to grant the 12-month lease with strict non-renewable terms as transitional measures to ensure the smooth transfer of the Damang Mine from Goldfields to the government.
Dr Osae said the Institute was also aware that three other mining leases were renewed for Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd, Gateway Exploration Ltd and GBP Associates Ghana Ltd within the same period without a plan to transition from foreign to local ownership.
"This is a disappointing development, as it represents yet another missed opportunity to reclaim ownership of our natural resources and channel them towards the sustainable development of our country," he said.
He said that after more than a century of engaging foreign entities in commercial mining under colonial-era contract frameworks, the country had yet to realise meaningful economic transformation from its mineral wealth.
Dr Osae stated that the inability to generate the necessary revenue from the mining sector, in particular, has led to insufficient domestic revenue mobilisation to fund development. As a result, the government has often had to rely on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for economic aid.
Dr Osae said it was the IEA's considered view that the fiscal and legal arrangements governing mineral mining and petroleum exploration in the country largely accounted for the meagre share of benefits that had been received from those sectors.
He underscored the need for urgent review of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) and the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 2016 (Act 919) to ensure full local ownership and the accrual of benefits to the country.
Responding to a question on the calls on the government to declare a state of emergency over illegal mining (galamsey), Dr Mensa said it was obvious that the menace had reached the crisis level and needed strong measures to stem the tide.
“The intensity of galamsey calls for a state of emergency; the urgency is near, but we do not know when this should occur because the President receives security briefings and knows what is on the ground,” he said.
For her part, Justice Akuffo said the IEA would give the government the benefit of the doubt in the galamsey fight, with the hope that the interventions being rolled out would help to tackle the menace.
“We know that the government has implemented a raft of measures to fight galamsey, so we want to monitor the space and see how these pop interventions will manifest in curbing galamsey,” she said.
