Accra, May 16, - The mining sector
contributed an amount of GH₵1,285
million to Government revenue in 2015 as against GH₵1,193 million in 2014, the Ghana Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) 2015 report has revealed.
This represents an increase of
7.79 per cent in 2015, over the previous year’s figure.
Of the total earning from the
mineral exports in the 2015, gold accounted for 96.68 per cent, bauxite
contributed 1.24 per cent, diamond accounted for 0.31 per cent and Manganese
contributed 1.95 per cent, the report noted.
Gold remained the leading mineral
in revenue.
The 2015 GHEITI Mining report,
launched together with that of the 2015 Oil and Gas Sector report, in Accra on
Wednesday, however, revealed that earnings from the minerals exported in 2015
decreased by 26.43 per cent.
Commenting on the mining report,
Dr Amin Adam, Deputy Minister for Energy said there was the need for subsequent
reports to factor the impact of the utilisation of revenue generated from the
extractives sector on the economic transformation of the people.
He said that was needed for the
people and other stakeholders to appreciate how the revenue from the extractive
sector were spent and said the government would soon start the process of
instituting a discussion on making a legislation to back the operations of
GHEITI report.
Messrs Boas & Associates,
were engaged to produce the GHEITI report on Mining sector payments and
receipts covering January to December 2015, on behalf of the Ministry of
Finance.
The two reports which should have
been launched in 2017 were delayed due to the change in government as happened
elsewhere, and the fact that the new government needed time to study and
understand the issues better before committing to it.
Mr Kwaku Kwarteng, a Deputy
Minister of Finance, who launched the reports, said the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (EITI) reports were the hallmark of the EITI
implementation process.
He indicated that the delay for
the early release of the 2015 report was also due to delay in the release of
funds by one of the donor partners, pushing Ghana to request for an extension
of time for the submission of the EITI reports and validation.
Mr Kwarteng said the EITI Board
subsequently gave approval to Ghana to publish the 2015 EITI reports in May,
this year and also undergo its next validation which would focus on corrective
measures identified in Ghana’s 2016 validation in September this year.
He emphasised the need for a more
transparent and prudent management of revenues from “these strategic sectors.
He added that there was the need
to ensure that “our natural resources revenue data were widely available to
empower the public to hold both companies and government accountable”.
Presenting the highlights of the
reports, Mr Kwaku Boa-Amponsem, a Managing Partner of Messrs Boas &
Associates, mentioned a recommendation of the report, stating that the Office
of the Administration of Stool Lands should endeavour to pay royalty receipts
to District Assemblies, as quickly as possible as it would provide the
necessary confidence for the District Assemblies to use the funds for
development projects.
He said, there was the need for
the government to review the policy of acquiring a non-contributory
shareholding in all mining enterprises, if the purpose for instituting that
measure was to earn extra income.
The EITI is the global
community's boldest response to the under development, conflict, and
deprivation which had become characteristics of natural resource dependent
countries.
Its mission was to promote
transparency and accountability in the generation and use of extractive sector
revenues and it was premised on the belief that implementation would lead to
policy reforms and improvement in the impact of extractive revenue on national
development.
GNA
No comments:
Post a Comment