THE immediate past President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, has urged the government to initiate policies that would encourage Ghanaians with experience in the mining industry to form consortiums to own mines in the country.
Such a move, he said, would help to keep some of the profits made by the mining companies within the local economy and create more jobs for the people.
“For instance, Ghanaians who were involved in the floatation of the then Ashanti Gold Field gained experience in raising international capital for mining purposes and if such Ghanaians were identified and given mining leases, they could raise international capital to operate first class mines in Ghana”, Mr Oteng-Gyasi stated.
Speaking at a budget review workshop for parliamentarians at Koforidua last Saturday, Mr Oteng Gyasi said: “Its time we supported our local investors to also own some of the mineral-rich sites across the country as part of efforts to curb the growing phenomenon of galamsey operations in the country”.
The workshop, meant to educate the MPs on the 2011 Budget and their role in its accountable and transparent implementation, was organised by the Parliamentary Centre under the auspices of the Africa Parliamentary Strengthening Programme (APSP) and funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
The former AGI President said over the years the mining and the quarrying industry, most of which were foreign-owned, had seen a significant growth in GDP from 6.87 in 2007 to a provisional 11.2 per cent in 2010 and was projected to increase to 11.5 per cent in 2011.
This growth, he said, had been induced by the increasing global market prices of the minerals such as gold on the global market, making the mining sector one of the best growing industries in the country.
He however expressed worry over how most of the profits made by the mining companies were repatriated outside the country at the expense of the economy.
He was of the view that the commitment of the government to look for local investors interested in the mining industry and help them to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills could help reverse the trend to the benefit of the economy.
Besides, the readiness of the government to support the local investors could also help them to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills in the mining industry, a move that in the long run could curtail the growing phenomenon of galamsey operations in the country.
“We have over the years seen an increase in galamsey operations by illegal miners, who on a daily basis are becoming angrier for a simple reason that most of the mineral-rich lands are being owned by foreigners”, he said and added that “just as these mineral-rich lands are given out to foreigners, who go to the stock exchange to raise capital to mine, our local investors could also do the same when given a lease to operate”
On mining royalties, Mr Oteng-Gyasi said that with the record high prices that were currently being enjoyed by the mining companies, the payment of monthly royalties, instead of quarterly, would help the government to improve cash flow.
For his part, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, said the economy had shown strong resilience and stability with the overall budget deficit on cash basis had reduced from 14.5 per cent in GDP in 2008 to 9.6 per cent of GDP in 2009 as well as around 11 of GDP on commitment basis and on course to around 8 per cent of GDP in 2010.
He indicated that the current account deficit narrowed to about five per cent of GDP in 2009, but was expected to increase to 12.1 per cent of GDP in 2010 as a result of the importation of inputs for the oil exploration and development.
The Finance and Economic Planning Minister added that inflation had declined for 16 consecutive months to 9.38 per cent, the lowest over the past two decades, while the cedi had stabilised over the past 14 months against all the three major currencies.
“Having experienced stability for the past 18 months, the country needs to accelerate economic growth to generate jobs and reposition itself as a middle income country”, Dr Duffuor stated.
According to him, the 2011 budget sought to put the country on the right path to achieve accelerated economic growth and prosperity in an environment of stability and said that in the medium term, investment decisions of the government would focus on accelerating agriculture modernisation, developing the oil and gas industry, critical infrastructure, sustaining natural resource management and environment as well as enhancing the competitiveness of the private sector and human resource development.
“It is our expectation that the investments in these areas will increase economic activity, facilitate private sector competiveness and therefore result in increased job creation”, Dr Duffuor stated.
In his view, 2011 marked the beginning of the country’s oil production in commercial quantities, of which major challenges would be how the oil revenues would be used to transform the economy and accelerate growth without sacrificing macroeconomic stability and accentuating income inequalities.
For their part, Messrs Cletus Avoka and Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, the respective Majority and Minority Leaders said since the financial destiny of the country was in the hand of legislators, MPs should undertake non-partisan analysis, debate and discussion of the 2011 Budget to ensure its accountable, transparent and effective implementation that would serve the interest of all sectors of the economy.
The Director of the Africa Programmes of the Parliamentary Centre, Dr Rasheed Draman, said since no country had ever developed without a properly and efficiently implemented budget, parliamentarians should ensure that the national budget and all the processes surrounding it did not remain mere political events.
“Please, you must keep a watchful eye on those charged with the responsibility of implementing the budget and scrutinize every line to ensure that each allocation is justified and has a role in alleviating the plight of the vulnerable in our society”, he said.
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