Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of Ghana
A delegation of the Ghana Chamber of Mines on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 paid a courtesy call on the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, at the Flagstaff House in Accra. The delegation was led by the President, Mr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, the 1st Vice President, Mr. Eric Asubonteng and the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. SUlemanu Koney.
The purpose of the meeting was to share thoughts on the Chamber’s plans for the industry and to find out the position of the Vice President on the place of the mining industry in the economic vision of government. Dr. Bawumia welcomed the delegation to the meeting and re-echoed the government’s quest to support the mining industry, which is a major partner to the economic development of the country.
On the issue of Illegal Mining; Dr. Bawumia elaborated the government’s commitment to develop for the first time, a holistic approach towards the menace in order to achieve a long term solution that will be more sustainable. He added that the government already sees the Chamber as a stakeholder of the Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP), and therefore agreed that there was a need to formalise the participation of the Chamber in the implementation of the MMIP.
Dr. Bawumia explained that one other benefit to be gleaned from local content drive will be the creation of linkages among the industries in the country. He added that there is therefore the need to develop a mutually beneficial relationship between the Chamber and the government to ensure that the process becomes a reality.
On his part the President of the Chamber Mr. Addo-Kufuor stated that it is the Chamber’s expectation that all of the relevant ministries will show the same inclination by the Vice President to partner with the Chamber to propel the local content agenda.
Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Mr. Sulemanu Koney, explained how the VAT on Exploration inputs had contributed to the unattractiveness of Ghana as the foremost mining destination in the sub-region. Mr. Koney intimated that in recent times, most investors have turned their attention to neighbouring West African countries due to the fiscal reliefs presented to businesses in the mining sector and urged the Vice President to take a clue from such progressive business enabling policies.
In his response, the Vice President assured the delegation that the issue of the country’s unattractiveness will be captured holistically in the 2018 budget even though the government has commenced word assiduously to make the country attractive investors again. Dr. Bawumia commended the delegation and assured the Chamber of the commitment of government to partner the industry to deliver value to the highly expectant citizenry.