Samuel A. Jinapole, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, emphasized the importance of value addition for successful responsible development of natural resources and urged African countries to follow the blueprint being implemented by Ghana.
Speaking at the Africa Prosperity Dialogue 2024 in Aburi, Eastern Region, Mr. Jinapole highlighted the important role value addition can play in Africa’s economic fortunes and called for measures to ensure mineral resources are effectively utilized. He urged all countries to take immediate action.
The Minister touched on the theme of the conference, “Achieving Africa’s Prosperity: Production, Value Added and Trade,” and stated that value added is the two fundamental principles for delivering real value to the African continent’s economies and people. He cited local participation.
He argued that pre-colonial practices of “extraction and transportation” should be used to add value to minerals, strengthen countries’ revenue-generating capacity, and ultimately lead to economic transformation.
To encourage other countries to follow Ghana’s path, he outlined several policy interventions by his government that are already bearing fruit. “We cannot transform our economy if we continue to mine and ship. That is why President Akufo-Addo of Ghana has worked since taking office in 2017 to ensure the added value of our mineral resources. For the first time, the Government, through a public-private partnership, is establishing a 400kg (400kg) gold refinery to refine the gold our country produces and is working to achieve London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) certification. ,” he said.
“Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) and Ghana Integrated Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC), which we established in 2018 and 2019, respectively, have been working to promote and develop the aluminum industry from exploration to steel. From refining to downstream production. And work is well underway to begin construction of a US$450 million manganese refinery in Ghana,” he added.
On local participation, he said the importance of people directly benefiting from their own resources cannot be overstated, and that governments have a duty to encourage people to participate in resource development. added.
He further disclosed that the government is currently working with the Ghana Chamber of Mines on a policy that would force large mining companies to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange. This is expected to create a platform for Ghana to own companies through share acquisition, he added.
“To derive maximum benefit from our natural resources, Africans must fully participate throughout the industry value chain. Our employees are involved in the exploration, production and processing of our mineral resources. Companies must have capital. To this end, the government is working with the Ghana Chamber of Mines to ensure that large mining companies operating in the country can be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. This will enable Ghanaians to acquire shares in these companies. We are also implementing the Minerals and Mining (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations 2020 (LI 2431) to promote local content in the mining industry. ),” he said.
Pursuant to this law, it will “increase the list of local procurement of goods and services reserved for Ghanaians from 29 to 50 items, retaining in our country approximately US$3 billion annually that would otherwise have been exported.” “There is,” he added.
The 2024 edition of the Africa Prosperity Dialogue Series was held from Thursday, January 25, 2024 to Saturday, January 28, 2024. This dialogue series is an initiative of the African Prosperity Network (APN) to bring together Africa’s political and business leaders. Meetings with other thought leaders from the continent.