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Government has been urged to explore alternative revenue sources of its annual budget funding, instead of relying heavily on money from the extractive sectors.
Revenue from the extractive sectors should rather be invested in strategic sectors, such as tourism and agribusiness to generate dividends beyond the lifespan of the country’s non-renewable resources.
The Co-Chair of Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Steve Manteaw, made the call at a training workshop for Journalists across the country, that was co-sponsored by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and the Ministry of Finance at Aburi in the Western Region.
This followed the presentation of the 2020 GHEITI report on mining, oil and gas, which is released every two years as a global standard for improving transparency and accountability in the oil, gas and mining sectors.
Dr Manteaw asked stakeholders to explore avenues and add value to minerals instead of excessive exportation of natural resources.
“We have always treated income in the extractive industry as monies for consumption, channelling it into the annual budget and spending everything. If we recognise that the minerals are our capital, then we need to invest it and live returns for the investments,” Dr Manteaw said.
He tasked government to ensure that the county realised optimal benefits from its mineral endowment.
Dr Manteaw urged mining companies to be more transparent and accountable to their host communities in order to manage expectations of host communities.
According to him, mining communities needed to know the royalties allotted to them so that they could monitor what inflows were expended on.
This, he said, would help minimise or curb rampant agitation and confrontation which often erupted in mining communities.
The report recommended that the Jubilee Oil Holding Limited’s (JOHL) commercial interest in Deep Water Tano (DWT) and West Cape Three Point (WCTP) should be acquired through indirect means (not through direct agreement with the state).
It said it should appropriately be deemed indirect “participating interest “section 6(e) of the petroleum revenue management (Amendment) Act, 2015(Act893) that makes accommodation for such indirect working interests.
The report recommended that JOHL’s commercial interest to be classified under indirect “participating interest” and subjected to payment into the petroleum holding fund among others.
