Ghana is enhancing local content participation in its mining sector to maximize benefits from mineral resources. Efforts include supporting small-scale miners and promoting local procurement. The upcoming Mining in Motion Summit will address local entities’ roles and strategies for collaboration. Significant employment and revenue generation from small-scale mining have been reported, with policies introduced to empower local players.
Ghana is intensifying efforts to enhance local content participation in its mining sector, thus ensuring the maximization of benefits derived from mineral resources. By supporting small-scale miners, promoting local procurement, and encouraging international firms to hire and train local personnel, Ghana aims to create employment, generate revenue for local businesses, and stimulate GDP growth through mining expansion.
The forthcoming Mining in Motion Summit, taking place from June 2nd to June 4th, 2025, in Accra, will emphasize the pivotal role of local entities in the mining industry. This summit will serve as a forum for the government and international partners to discuss strategies for accelerating economic growth through increased local involvement in mining.
Ghana’s dedication to local participation is yielding significant outcomes, as the small-scale gold mining sector has provided employment to one million individuals and supported an additional 4.5 million indirectly. This sector generated over $5 billion in export revenue in 2024 alone, highlighting its critical role in the nation’s economy.
To further empower local miners, the government has implemented essential policy reforms along with financing and skills training initiatives. A noteworthy development is the establishment of the Gold Board, announced for launch in March 2025, aimed at consolidating gold output from various mining projects for international export, thus facilitating gold commercialization for small-scale miners.
In August 2024, Ghana introduced a Cooperative Mining Policy to establish community mining cooperatives. These cooperatives will facilitate training, register miners, and issue concessions, thereby promoting job creation and formalizing the sector.
Simultaneously, funding from the World Bank was secured by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in April 2024. This funding will support the Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small-Scale Mining Project, which aims to enhance the formalization of mining operations via District Mining Committees. Additionally, the Minerals and Mining (Local Content & Local Participation) Regulations, enacted in 2020, mandate international firms to procure local goods and services, which boosts the participation of Ghanaian companies in project development.
Several large-scale mining projects, including Goldstone’s Homase Mine and Atlantic Lithium’s Ewoyaa Project, among others, are advancing local content participation in Ghana’s mining sector. The Mining in Motion Summit will provide a significant opportunity for high-level discussions on key trends and advancements in local content development in the industry.
In summary, Ghana’s proactive strategies to enhance local content participation within its mining sector are yielding notable results in employment and revenue generation. The government’s initiatives, such as the establishment of the Gold Board and the Cooperative Mining Policy, are fostering job creation and formalizing the sector. The upcoming Mining in Motion Summit is poised to further facilitate discussions that will support local entities while addressing key industry trends, indicating a promising future for Ghana’s mining industry.
Original Source: africanminingmarket.com
