The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources responsible for Mining, Mr George Mireku Duker has urged African leaders and industry players in the mining sector to take advantage of its numerous mineral endowments by prioritising value optimisation.
That, he noted, would maximise local content and ensure significant value addition with benefits to African economies.
He said this when he represented Ghana at the opening session of the Ministerial Symposium 2023 on “Investing in African Mining Indaba” held on Sunday at Cape Town, South Africa.
He made a case for Ghana in terms of how the government has established structures that have increased Resource Nationalism, Local Content/Localization and Value Addition drive, ensuring that the State derives all necessary benefits along the mineral exploitation, processing and marketing chain to avoid wealth export to other countries.
Mr Mireku Duker mentioned the formation of the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) and the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) as specialised institutions to ensure the development of iron and bauxite from exploitation to finished product.
He explained that despite what might appear to be some negative effects on the continent’s economies, Ghana has adopted a positive attitude toward the energy transition, making certain to “ensure that we take advantage of the availability of relevant minerals needed for the energy transition, but not just in a “pit to port” framework.”
The Deputy Minister stated that research and development were critical in value optimisation and there was a need to resource research institutions to make this happen.
He added that instead of African countries competing (race to the bottom) to attract investment, “we should collaborate to develop together.”
Irene Wirekoaa Osei, ISD