Ghana Revenue Authority
The mining sector continues to be the leading contributor to the domestic collections of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in recent years.
The sector contributed about GH¢1.35 billion to GRA, representing 14.8 percent of GRA’s total direct taxes in 2015.
The mining industry also accounted for 31 percent of the country’s gross export revenue in 2015, reinforcing its position as the leading source of foreign exchange and a major contributor to the country’s balance of payments.
Sulemanu Koney, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, revealed this during a media interaction in Takoradi on some of the contributions of the sector to the nation’s economy, as well as challenges confronting the industry.
He noted that producing members of the Chamber returned $3.1 billion, representing 85 percent of their mineral revenue through the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the commercial banks in 2015.
“This has significant bearing on the international reserve position of BoG and the stability of the monetary system as a whole,” he added.
Mining leads in FDI
According to him, records from the Minerals Commission showed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into the mining sector in 2015 was $965 million.
“Cumulatively, the investment inflow into the mining sector from 2000 to 2015 stood above US$ 10 billion,” he pointed out.
Direct employment
The Chamber of Mines CEO indicated that the mining sector employed about 9,939 people directly in 2015 out of which 177, representing 2 percent were expatriates.
Indirect employment
He mentioned that empirical evidence suggested that the number of indirect and induced jobs created by mining was about 15 times the number of direct employees.
Challenges
Mr Koney bemoaned the degradation of environmental by illegal miners also known as ‘galamsey’ operators, who impugn the image of the entire minerals industry.
He stressed that pits abandoned by ‘galamsey’ operator endanger the lives of members of the host communities.
He also pointed out that illegal mining degrades farm lands, destroys aquatic life and increases cost of treating water.
He was, however, quick to add that his outfit was poised to promote and protect the interests of players in the mining industry.
The CEO therefore stressed the need for illegal miners to be encouraged to formalize their operations and properly supervised.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi