By Kizito CUDJOE
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister-designate, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has emphasised the importance of prioritising value-addition in future mineral agreements, representing a shift in the country’s mining policy.
Speaking at his vetting by the Parliament Appointments Committee, Mr. Buah reiterated the need for the country to secure greater economic benefits from its abundant mineral resources, especially new minerals. This, he noted, can be achieved by ensuring that local processing and value-chain integration are at the forefront of negotiations in new mining deals.
“When it comes to new minerals, my strong view is that Ghana must really win in new negotiations for our new minerals, and that there must be a paradigm shift in some of these agreements to ensure that the country benefits more than it has before,” he said.
This followed a question by a member of the Appointments Committee, who sought to know the readiness of the government to ensure investor confidence is not affected by a change of government. This is particularly relevant, the committee member stated, when an investor has explored minerals in compliance with all relevant mining regulations.
The basis of the question focused on the maiden lithium agreement, between the country and Barari DV Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium, which was before the 8th Parliament but not ratified before the house was dissolved.
Ghana, Africa’s leading producer of gold and other minerals, announced the signing of its first lithium agreement in October 2023, with Barari DV to mine lithium at Ewoyaa in the Mfantsiman Municipality of the Central Region.
The agreement includes a 10 percent royalty rate and a 13 percent free carried interest for the state, designed. Spanning a 15-year lease and covering approximately 42.63 square kilometres, the deal grants Barari DV exclusive rights to extract lithium and associated minerals.
However, the agreement, which was subject to parliamentary approval, aroused a prolonged public discourse, with some institutions like the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a policy think-tank, opposing it.
The IEA, among others, advocated a reconsideration of the deal and insisted that it failed to address historical mistakes in past minerals exploitation agreements.
The think-tank emphasised a model that places premium on national control, economic gains and strict adherence to constitutional procedures and, more importantly, value addition.
However, the 8th Parliament could not ratify the agreement despite assurances from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and one of its key sector agencies, the Minerals Commission.
In a related development, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister-designate, in response to when the government intends to follow through with its pre-election pledge to declare the state of emergency on galamsey, said the government is committed to ensuring that mining on water bodies will be halted as well as ensuring the restoration of biodiversity in degraded forests.
However, he maintained that as a minister-designate, he was not in a position to declare any timelines for a ‘state of emergency’ as demanded by organised labour and other civil society organisations (CSOs) prior to last year’s elections.
Also, he noted that the government will review the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, 2022 (L.I. 2462) to ensure no new mining activity is allowed in the forest reserves.
He said: “Our intention is to ensure that L.I. 2462 is amended so that the provision allowing mining in forest reserves is removed”.
He added that this would be his first order of business if approved as minister.
Additionally, he stated that the government will pursue some three initiatives; namely the Blue Water Initiative, Tree for Life Initiative, and Restore Ghana Initiative – to comprehensively tackle the illegal mining menace while restoring the environment to its natural state.
But reacting to the minister-designate’s position on L.I. 2462, A Rocha Ghana, who – along with several other civil society organisations – filed a lawsuit against the state regarding the regulations, welcomed the decision to review the provisions of the regulations.
Deputy National Director – A Rocha Ghana, Daryl Bosu, said while it was their position that the entire L.I. should be repealed, the position expressed by the minister-designate demonstrates an acknowledgement of the risks the L.I. poses.
