The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has called for a major expansion of opportunities for indigenous Ghanaian companies in the mining industry, saying local content reforms must go beyond ownership requirements to enable local businesses to undertake complex technical and commercial operations.
He said Ghana must draw lessons from the progress made in the petroleum industry, where local content regulations introduced in 2013 have helped build indigenous capacity, increase Ghanaian participation and retain a greater share of industry expenditure within the domestic economy.
Addressing the Petroleum Commission’s conference, the Minister, a former Energy Minister, said the next phase of Ghana’s local content agenda must focus on building stronger Ghanaian enterprises capable of undertaking sophisticated industry operations and competing internationally.
He noted that when commercial oil production began in Ghana in 2010, questions were raised about the capacity of local companies to provide engineering, fabrication, maintenance and specialised services to the petroleum industry.
However, the introduction of the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations in 2013 established a framework for Ghanaian equity participation, local employment, training, technology transfer and preference for qualified indigenous companies.
Mr Buah commended President John Dramani Mahama for providing the political leadership and support that helped advance the petroleum local content agenda.
He said the experience gained from the petroleum sector was now informing reforms in the mining industry, where Ghanaian businesses were being positioned to undertake a greater share of the technical and commercial work associated with mineral production.
“There is a certain irony and indeed a sense of continuity in the fact that the petroleum local content framework we developed in 2013 is now helping to guide the mining local content reforms,” he stated.
The Minister recalled that at the Mining Local Content Summit held in Tarkwa in February, government brought together regulators, mining operators, contractors, financial institutions and other stakeholders to address the limited participation of indigenous businesses in key mining operations.
He said the reforms were intended to ensure that Ghanaian companies moved beyond supplying basic goods and services to participate meaningfully in the more valuable segments of the mining value chain.
A major component of the reforms, he explained, was the introduction of a contract mining framework that provides for surface contract mining by wholly Ghanaian-owned companies, while underground contract mining would require at least 50 per cent Ghanaian ownership.
The framework, he said, presented significant opportunities for indigenous companies in drilling, blasting, loading and hauling, among other specialised mining operations.
However, Mr Buah acknowledged concerns surrounding the implementation of the reforms, particularly issues relating to wages, employment security, occupational safety and the readiness of local contractors to meet industry requirements.
He stressed that ownership requirements alone would not be sufficient to equip Ghanaian businesses to compete effectively, insisting that access to finance, equipment, technical expertise and training would be critical to their success.
He, therefore, called on banks, mining companies, training institutions and investors to support indigenous contractors to acquire the necessary equipment, strengthen their technical capabilities and meet international industry standards.
The Minister also disclosed that government was advancing a review of the Minerals and Mining Act and related policies to improve licensing, accountability and community participation in the mining sector.
Beyond contract mining, he said government wanted local content to extend further into the value chain, particularly in the processing and manufacturing of minerals such as gold, manganese and lithium.
According to him, Ghana must identify opportunities for domestic processing, manufacturing, engineering and specialised services to ensure that the country derives greater economic benefits from its mineral resources.
He maintained that the ultimate measure of successful local content policies should not merely be the number of Ghanaian companies registered in the sector, but the strength, capacity and international competitiveness of the businesses developed through the reforms.
Mr Buah said the experience of the petroleum industry had demonstrated what clear regulations, sustained investment and political commitment could achieve, adding that the same determination was needed to transform local participation in mining into lasting industrial capacity.
He called for stronger collaboration among government, regulators, financial institutions, mining companies and indigenous businesses to ensure that the reforms translated into tangible economic opportunities for Ghanaians.
