Ghanaian Businesses Must Take Advantage of Opportunities in Mining Industry – Chamber of Mines CEO

Mr. Sulemanu Koney

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Sulemanu Koney, has implored Ghanaian businesses to take advantage of the enormous opportunities that exist in the mining sector especially along the value chain.

According to Mr. Koney, unless and until many Ghanaian businesses bid for contracts to provide services required by the various mining companies in the country, the latter would continue to import most of its consumables that could be produced locally.

He made this call at a sensitization workshop organized by the Ghana Chamber of Mines for selected journalists and students as well as faculty members of the University for Development Studies in Tamale.

The sensitization sought to create awareness on the happenings in the mining industry, and making known to the general public including journalists and students, certain new developments that are taking place within the sector.

Mr. Koney revealed that, mining companies spent huge sums of money to import vehicle and machine spare parts, heavy duty electrical cables, general lubricants, bolts and nuts and other materials simply because such things were either not available locally or they were available but could not meet the required standard of the mining companies.

In view of this gab, he said the Chamber was going to launch a business opportunities portal that would indicate all the resources needed by mining companies so that businesses could take advantage of the opportunities.

He also revealed, that the mining sector contributed significantly to the Ghanaian economy in the 2016 fiscal year. “The sector in 2016 contributed about 1.6 billion cedis to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), representing 15.8 percent of the GRA’s total direct taxes for the year”, he pointed out.

Gold Fields and Newmont Ghana, both members of the Chamber, were also adjudged the largest and second largest tax payer in Ghana in 2016 by the GRA.

According to Mr. Koney, for the first time since 2011, the provisional balance of payments in 2016 recorded a surplus. This he said reflected an improvement in the trade balance driven by a rise in gold export receipts and a fall in oil import prices.

He further stated, that producing members of the Chamber returned US$2.3 billion, representing 71 percent of their mineral revenue through the Bank of Ghana and the commercial banks in 2016.

Accordingly, he asked the government to ensure efficiency in the management of mineral revenue, because in his opinion, mineral revenue had not been effectively managed and believed that with effective management of the revenue, it would ensure the requisite development in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer, therefore, called on government to enact a law for the management of mineral revenue to promote sustainability and efficiency in the expenditure of revenues attributable to mining.

The Ghana Chamber of Mines is a private institution that represents the mining industry in Ghana using the resources and capabilities of its members to deliver services that address members, government and community needs in order to enhance development.

Its objectives include promoting and protecting the interest of the mining industry; promoting and protecting the image of the mining industry; and providing thought leadership for the solution of national issues related to mining.