CEDA urges transparency in management of mineral income

By Buertey Francis BORYOR

The Executive Director of Centre for Extractives and Development Africa (CEDA), Samuel Bekoe has called for stronger transparency and proactive disclosure in management of the country’s mineral revenues to ensure its extractive wealth delivers lasting benefits for citizens.

Speaking during a media interaction at a workshop in Accra on improving transparency and accountability of the Mineral Income Investment Fund (MIIF), he stressed that public access to information remains critical to building confidence in the management of the nation’s extractive resources.

“While Ghana has made progress in managing revenues from the extractive sector, gaps remain in the disclosure of information relating to mineral income and investments. Institutions responsible for managing mineral income should adopt more open reporting practices, including regular publication of financial statements, investment performance and details of how funds generated from the sector are utilised,” he said.

He explained that while petroleum revenues are monitored by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) under the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815), there is no equivalent independent oversight mechanism dedicated to mineral revenues. According to him, the existence of PIAC has strengthened scrutiny of how oil revenues are managed through regular reports and public disclosures, a level of oversight that the mineral sector currently lacks.

“Our mineral revenue over the years have generated significant monies compared to even oil, but the accountability and transparency of our mineral revenues is less than what we have in the oil sector,” he noted.

He said expanding PIAC’s mandate to cover mineral revenues or introducing similar transparency mechanisms could help improve accountability.

According to him, proactive transparency from public institutions would strengthen public confidence and allow citizens to better understand how revenues from the country’s natural resources are being managed. Additionally, he stressed that regular publication of annual financial statements and updates on investment performance would help strengthen accountability and enable stakeholders to assess whether the fund’s activities are delivering value.

“The establishment of MIIF was intended to enhance the value derived from the country’s mineral resources by investing royalties from the mining sector in strategic projects capable of generating long-term returns. The fund started operations in 2018 with assets under management of about US$180 million and later expanded its investment portfolio significantly, reaching an estimated value of about US$1 billion by 2024. Despite this growth there is still limited publicly available information on the returns generated from those investments. We need to see more detailed reporting on the performance of these investments, including how much returns they are generating and how those returns contribute to national development,” he said.

While government intends to use mineral royalties to support large-scale infrastructure projects, the CEDA executive director said it is important that strong governance mechanisms guide how those funds are managed. He emphasised that clear withdrawal rules, investment guidelines and regular reporting should accompany the use of the funds to ensure transparency.

He urged MIIF to adopt a more proactive approach to information disclosure rather than waiting for stakeholders to request information. Publishing details about the fund’s investments, he noted, would provide greater clarity on projects supported through its portfolio.

He said, minerals such as gold are non-renewable assets, and the country has a limited window to convert them into long-term economic benefits.