The Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of Petroleum, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has said government will reposition the mining and energy sectors to deepen its contribution to economic growth.
He stated that with the country’s track record in mining, it had become necessary to deepen the contribution of the sector by making it attractive for investments and business opportunities.
Speaking at the just-ended 2019 Ghana mining and energy summit in Accra on June 12, Dr Amin Adam noted that “it has become necessary to deepen the contribution of mining and energy towards the growth of our economy and to accelerate the development of the country by repositioning the two sectors to drive investment and business opportunities. This is imperative because of recent reports about Ghana’s top position among gold producing countries.”
The government, he explained, was pursuing progressive policies and programmes to transform the mineral resources to sustainable development outcomes for the people.
Therefore, apart from gold production, government is aggressively harnessing the country’s bauxite and iron ore potential to build a value added industrial economy that creates jobs and incomes for the people.
Energy key to industrialisation
Dr Amin Adam noted that energy played a critical role in the nation’s industrialisation drive and the country’s ability to create competitive industries depended largely on the pricing and availability of energy.
“This is even more essential to an energy intensive sector such as the mining industry. Our desire to harness linkage opportunities and value addition to our minerals, that is gold, bauxite and aluminium, will be backed by an extensive approach that takes into consideration the need for reliable and cost competitive forms of power and fuel,” he said.
Addressing challenges
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr Sulemanu Koney, noted that Ghana’s ranking on global attractiveness league for mining investment had dwindled in the last couple of years.
While that calls for a review of the policy regime governing the sector, he explained that the security situation at some of the mines had not helped and that had deteriorated sharply with the withdrawal of the troops.
“In spite of these challenges, we are fortunate to have a listening Sector Minister who is willing to work with us to address these challenges. He deserves our commendation,” he said.
He added that the summit focused on developments within the mining and energy sectors of the economy of the country.
It also allowed for interrogation of the issues militating against the growth and development of those two anchors of the economy and more importantly how to harness the potential in the nexus between these two strategic sectors of the economy for socio – economic development.
The summit
The Ghana Mining and Energy Summit (GMES) is a biennial Conference and Exhibition organised by the Ghana Chamber of Mines and it attracts industry participants across the globe.
The 2019 summit, which is the fourth since the maiden event was held in 2013, was on the theme: “Harnessing mining and energy potential to accelerate national development.”
The President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr Eric Asubonteng, said the theme was aimed at deepening investment opportunities in the two sub sectors so as to strengthen Ghana’s position as Africa’s mineral and energy resource hub.
“The Chamber is, therefore, pleased to bring together key players in the sectors in an effort to expose local and international entrepreneurs and investors to the mining and energy business in Ghana,” he noted.
