A Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, has stated that the priority of the President Akufo-Addo government in the mining sector is to translate the volumes of mineral produced into wealth.
This wealth, he said, should benefit all stakeholders equitably through value addition and linkage development with the rest of the economy.
According to him, it is in this context that the government, under the “Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda” has been adopting strategies to promote and optimize value development along the entire value chain of the country’s iron ore resources.
He made the statement in a keynote address he delivered at a Masterplan Review and Validation Workshop for the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) on Tuesday August 23, 2022.
Ghana, he said, is well-endowed with substantial mineral resources that have been exploited over many decades for development.
“The exploitation of these minerals has contributed significantly to our developmental trajectory with gold alone providing approximately 40% of our export earnings while accounting for more than 90% of our gross mineral revenues.”
“The mining sector became a buffer to the economy (particularly gold) when the global supply chain became disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
He lamented, however, that as significant as these benefits have been, they have been largely derived from the upstream side of mining activities with little or no attention to the downstream, which holds even more potential for sustainable development.
He stressed that the challenge has been how to harness the full potential of mining and maximize benefits along its entire value chain sustainably.
He averred that the establishment of GIISDEC by an Act of Parliament, Act 2019 (Act 988) will promote and develop an Integrated Iron and Steel Industry by promoting and optimising value chain of Ghana’s iron ore resources and in the process diversify the economy.
According to him, GIISDEC is required to manage the abundant iron ore resources of Ghana and in accordance with the relevant law, enter into joint venture agreements, promote an efficient integrated iron and steel industry and facilitate the establishment of industrial parks.
He said, “Currently, the country has over 1.5 billion tonnes of iron ore with an average grade of 40% iron oxide. With these resources, the Corporation is expected to strategically partner with private sector entities to develop operations along the entire iron ore value chain.”
“To support and anchor the implementation of government’s vision set out in the GIISDEC mandate will require the development of a Masterplan that has a clearly defined, stable and predictable trajectory for the industry to enable credible investors to make informed decisions.”
He urged GIISDEC and all its strategic partners involved in the development of the Integrated Masterplan to work assiduously and come up with a workable Masterplan that will stand the test of time and pave way for an aggressive investor roadshow in the shortest possible time.
