‘Mines’ Contribution To Economy Minimal’

By William Yaw Owusu & David Adadevoh

Thursday, 24 April 2008
DESPITE the presence of many mining companies in Ghana, the contribution of the mining sector to the development of the economy is very minimal, says Esther Obeng Dapaah, Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines.

"Our inability to determine the profit margins of the mining companies does not help our quest for economic growth. The minerals are always refined in foreign countries and these companies only come back to declare their profit. We do not know how they come by these gains," she said.

The Minister was speaking in Accra yesterday at an interactive session at the 12th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XII).

The session, which was on the theme "The changing face of commodities in the 21st Century", was in three thematic areas. These were energy/oil/gas, mining/minerals and agricultural commodities, with panellists from Angola, Ghana, Mauritania, Uganda, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Oman and Venezuela deliberating on them.

Ms Dapaah, who spoke on the mining sector in Ghana, said even though the sector has a high percentage of the local workforce, those who take the decisions are often expatriates.

She said the country has over the years continued to over depend on the traditional commodities such as gold, timber and cocoa for export and that was affecting the economy.

"There are mineral deposits such as brown clay, limestone and salt among others that we need to shift our focus on."

The government, she said, is setting up a high level committee to review the activities of the mining sector and get the laws governing the areas amended to meet the economic development aspirations of the country.

Ms Dapaah said: "We want to reform the mining sector and also add value to the commodities that we send to the world market."

Mr Joaquim David, Angola’s Minister of Industry, who dealt with the oil industry, said despite the gains made from oil, the Angolan economy is still vulnerable.

Angola, according to him, produces about two million barrels of oil daily but the price instability on the commodity market had inhibited the government’s effort to use oil revenue to effectively support the Angolan economy.

"The international market should afford every country the opportunity to have a diversified economy," he said.

Mr Ahmeed Bin Hassan Al Dheeb, Oman’s Under Secretary for Commerce and Industry, who was a discussant on the oil issue, said his country was using oil revenue to upgrade the human resource sector.

Mrs Carolina Escala of Venezuela said the issue of oil should not only be seen from a commercial perspective but also on a sustainable basis.

Mr Nelson Gaggawala, Uganda’s Minister of State for Trade, who treated the issue of agricultural commodities, reiterated the need for investors to support the agricultural sector of African countries.