As part of his ardent efforts to see to the realization of his vision of making Ghana to achieve financial and economic stability and inclusive growth to be coupled with an efficient 24 hour economy system in Ghana, His Excellency President Mahama on 19 April 2025 ensured the successful organization and the transformation of his brainchild of the Kwahu Business Forum into a yearly nonpartisan national forum as part of Ghana’s development agenda.
It is to be a yearly nonpartisan platform for entrepreneurs or business owners, industrialists, Investors, CEOs and MDs of financial institutions, policy makers and the academia or scholars to congregate to dialogue and network to see to the growth of the economy of Ghana through the expansion of Ghana’s private sector which is the crucial engine for economy growth.
This implies that based on scarcity of resources including time, there is the urgent need for the President to identify which sectors or areas of the economy and which business owners need to be supported by the State for the initial start or jump start of the economy. Hence, the Man to Watch Series on the reputable website of Modern Ghana by this author on the Ghana Better Agenda is to support my dear President as requested by him to achieve his dream.
So, In the three Sectors of the Economy of Ghana, namely the Agriculture Sector, the Industrial Sector and the Service Sector, the Service Sector has been in the lead with 50 percent contribution to GDP, since 2013. This is followed by the Industrial Sector with 28 percent. The Agriculture Sector lagged behind the two other sectors with 22 percent though it still regarded as the highest employment sector. The Financial Sector is revealed as the highest contributor to the growth of the Service Sector followed by health services and education services.
Britain exhibits financial and economic resilience with London as City with effective 24 hour economy and it is reported that the vibrant British economy is depending on the Service Sector. So one may be right to say that Ghana must see to the expansion of the Services Sector in order to facilitate financial resilience and the desired 24 hour economy. Thus one needs to find out between the Agric Sector and the Industrial Sector which is the easier and faster as the principal driver of the Service Sector, so as to give the needed support to the operators in that sector.
Without waste of time and with a common sense, one may conclude that the Industrial Sector within which the mining sector resides is the principal driver of the Service Sector. This is since it produces the inputs for Services, it demands for goods or supplies, demand for transportation services to move goods and personnel, storage facilities to hold inventory, maintenance, servicing and repair of vehicles and equipment, demand for service providers or suppliers, haulage services, security guards, demand for catering services, medical, health and safety services or officers, accountants, legal personnel, financial services, communication, and act as tourists attraction, etc.
As stated, the Mining Sector resides in the Industrial Sector which is a principal driver of the Service Sector, thus Ghana is a very lucky country since she is very rich in various minerals deposits. In the mining sector, there are three categories of minerals and Ghana is endowed with all of them. These are namely category fuel minerals including natural gas, coal, petroleum, category Industrial mineral like Salt, Lithium, kaolin quartz, clay, gravel, and sand and category Precious Minerals like Gold, Diamond, Manganese, Aluminum from Bauxite, iron, silver, copper, lithium (is both salt and metal mineral), etc . Thus mining promotes massive national development and can promote the faster expansion of the Service Sector. So the next pages will deal with minerals, mining and national development for the promotion of the service sector.
The Mining of Salt and Mining of gold within the area now called Ghana, predates colonial times or the arrival of the Europeans who christened the area in the central region locally coined as akyenfo as Saltpond and the nation constituted as the Gold Coast due to very rich deposits of salt and gold respectively. The mining of salt in large scale is in progress by Electrochem Ghana Ltd, a subsidiary of the McDan Group at the Ada Songhor, to be dealt with in Part Two, since salt is needed for processing of bauxite.
Gold is mined responsibly and in reasonable quantities of troy ounces by Large Scale Mining Companies in Ghana which are mainly multinationals with 90 percent stake and the Government holding 10 percent in the Stake.
Manganese was discovered in Gold Coast now Ghana in 1914 at Nsuta Wassa and mining of manganese started in 1916 by foreigners and for the past 25 years by Consmin which owns 90 percent of Ghana Manganese Company, whilst Government of Ghana owns 10 percent.
The next Precious Mineral which was discovered in the Gold Coast is Diamond. It was found in 1919 at Abomoso along the River Birim, in an area northwest of Akwatia. Mining of diamond is mainly by Small Scale Mining.
Bauxite as a Precious Minerals was discovered at Awaso, in the then Western Region of Ghana in 1921 during the regime of Sir Brigadier General Fredrick Gordon Guggisburg. The mining of bauxite started in 1940.
The discovery of Bauxite in 1921, in the era of Governor Brigadier General Guggisburg with his 10 years development master plan, saw the start of the construction of Takoradi Harbour in 1921 and the need for the development of the Volta River Projects with a Hydroelectric Power Dam at Ajeni in the Eastern Region for a plan processing of bauxite. It also saw the expansion of the Railway networks to connect from the Ashanti Region and Western Region to different regions especially the Eastern Region in 1923 in the Gold Coast.
The primary reason for the British Colonial Master plan to build hydroelectric power station in Gold Coat was to power the burgeoning mining industry and other colonial infrastructure, so, the Colonial Administration initiated a master plan to develop Gold Coast hydroelectric power to supply power to a planned Bauxite and Aluminum industries.
The massive development of Gold Coast by the Colonial Authorities was based on the need to transport among others precious minerals, cocoa and timber to ports. Hence construction of the Railway network effective 1898, which was extended to Kumasi in 1903 with the Eastern Railway completed in 1923 by the Guggisburg administration and Takoradi Port to facilitate the transportation of minerals among others. Hence Mining Sector is a major key driver of the economy and physical development of Ghana.
For instance, the early plan of the Volta River Projects which emerged in the 1920s was aimed to harness Hydroelectric Power from the Volta River to fuel an integrated Aluminum Industry in the regime of Governor Brigadier General Guggisburg. So, the British Aluminum Company was invited to develop a Bauxite mining project and mine the Bauxite at Awaso. Mining of Bauxite in Awaso started in 1940.
When Ghana became a Republican Nation on 01 July 1960 under the Presidency of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the plan for an integrated Hydroelectric Power Station and Bauxite refinery/Aluminum Smelting was reshaped. Unfortunately, the construction was capital intensive, so he contacted President Eisenhower of USA and he was linked with Henry Kaiser’s Company namely Alcoa Corporation of USA.
The American Financier changed the original plan including a Dam to be at Akosombu instead of at Ajeni and to avoid competition with his American Bauxite Refinery or in order to ensure the continuance supply of Bauxite feed for his America bauxite Refinery, the Americans reached a win-win solution with Ghana by a reduction of the budget for the power project and bauxite and alumina industries. This time, with no Bauxite Refinery but provided loan for Alumina Smelter at Tema as VALCO, as the financial vehicle. Google for Gold Coast Master Development Plan for the Volta River Project or Google for ‘The Volta River Project; How Kwame Nkrumah Dream was frustrated’ as extracted from his Book ‘Africa Must Unit’.
Thus the Hydroelectric Power at Akosombu Dam, was actually built due to the need for an integrated Bauxite ore Refinery Solution and Aluminum Smelter Project among others, this tells the importance of the Mining Sector as a principal driver of the economy of Ghana especially the Service Sector. So the importance of the mining sector especially mining and processing of bauxite ore into Aluminum cannot be over emphasized.
The Bauxite Ore Reveres in Ghana is 920 Million metric tonnes, the breakdown per area is as follows at Awaso 60 million metric tons, Nyinahin 700 Million Metric Tons and Kyebi 160 million metric tons Based on this discovery and for other reasons,
So, Ghana Bauxite Company which is now owned by Mr Ofori Poku has a potential to promote the economy of Ghana when provided with the needed support to expand the production of bauxite and for adding value to the Bauxite ore at Awaso and thus reduce the destruction of the Awaso and Takoradi
Highway by Bauxite haulage trucks.
The benefits of mining to the financial sector and the stability of the national currency could be deduced from what happened in the early parts of the 1980s, when due to the poor state of economy of Ghana, Ghana with the help of the World Bank and IMF in 1983 launched Economy Recovery Program. This was guided by a Structural Adjustment Program which saw the boosting of the domestic currency through promotion of export and the attraction and increase in Foreign Direct Investment in the mining sector.
Thus in the 1980s, the Mining Sector was identified as the sector that would help Ghana do so. Large Scale Mining is a capital intensive with a lot of technology for mining hence beyond the scope of Ghanaians. This led to comprehensive mining laws the Minerals and Mining Law 1986 (PNDC153) and the establishment of the Minerals Commission in 1986 (PNDC L154) to attract Foreign Direct Investment.
The action by the PNDC to attract foreign direct investments has greatly helped in the improvement of the economy of Ghana, because since then, the Mining Sector by Large Scale Mining Companies has been the key driver of the economy of Ghana as revealed by statistics and common sense
The Mining Sector shared the training of Mr Sam Jonah as a global icon, it made him to achieve his status and the creation of Sir Sam Jonah’s businesses empire, which is operating vigorously in the Service Sector. It has trained or gave mining working experience to a lot of Ghanaians with a lot of them working outside Ghana and thus sending monies or Dollars to Ghana for investments and construction work etc. It has provided a University of Mines at Tarkwa, thus expanding the service sector of education.
Mr Kwaku Ofori of Rocksure International, Mr Ibrahim Mahama of Engineers and Planners and others rode and are riding on the back of the Large Scale Mining Companies like Goldfields Damang, Goldfields Tarkwa, Golden Star Resources Bogoso/Prestea Ltd, Golden Star Wassa Mine etc to become tycoons. Google for ‘How Mr Ibrahim Mahama went from College dropout to become billionaire’.
Whilst the author supports the genuine nationalization of Industries especially Mining Companies, we need to be very careful to avoid judgment debts, avoid it as a disincentive to other investors, thus if care is not factored in the plan to afford flexibility the value may be same. Due to the likelihood of the Ghanaian fronting or collaborating with a foreigner and the fact that the Ghanaian would still have to contact a foreign Company for supply of equipment etc which is quoted in US Dollars and the equipment, The fear of the service provider finding a way to make a lot to repatriate the money cannot be ruled out. We just be told that some Ghanaian Companies have signed about 300 million US Dollars deal for mining equipment with Liebherr. What is happening in the Small Scale Mining Sector with the Chinese operating with impunity should be an eye opener.
Based on the cacophonous allegation by some ill-informed scholars that large Scale Mining Companies under the umbrella of the Ghana Chamber of Mines were looting Ghana, so to ascertain the exact contributions of the Mining Sector to Ghana, the Ghana Chamber of Mines under the Leadership of Mr Sulemana Konney as the CEO in 2013 or so wanted to know the exact economic importance and consequence of Mining to Ghana. The Chamber of Mines wanted accurate data on the mining sectors contribution to Ghana that is mining sector’s actual contribution to the economic progress of Ghana.
This made the Ghana Chamber of Mines to collaborate with the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) to conduct an investigation on the life cycle contribution of mining to the economy of Ghana. They contracted the reputable researching firm of Steward Redqueen and African Center for Economy Transformation (ACET) to do the research between 2013 and 2014.
This research was based on data from Newmont Ahafo, Newmont Akyem, Goldfields Damang, Goldfields Tarkwa, Golden Star Wassa, Adamsu Resources and Chirano Gold Mines with the support of other stakeholders including volunteers.
The findings indicated that the about half of the affected mining companies’ expenditures that remain in Ghana were related to local procurements, while other half was direct value added sum of salaries, Taxes, etc. That an increase in local procurement leads to more than 40 percent increase value added to the economy as well as additional indirect employment. This led to the effective local content and local procurement policies
It revealed that beside the direct benefits by the mining activity, the Mining Sector, numerous value multipliers were generated by the mining economic activity especially the benefits of local procurement or purchases which have catalyzed both industrial growth and the growth of the service sector, and new wealth creation. That though the Large Scale Mining Companies provide few jobs due to use of sophisticated technology but they afforded large indirect jobs by local supplier businesses or contract services. Google for ‘Report on Mining in Ghana what future can we expect’
Research reports have it that the mining sector is noted for the attraction of more than fifty percent of Foreign Direct Investment, and it generates more than one-third of all export revenues. That it is the largest taxpayer and contributes not less than 37 percent of export revenue, and 19 percent of all direct tax payments, these exclude the effects of wages, investment and supplier expenditures that are spent in Ghana
In June 2024 at AGM, the President of Ghana Chamber of Mines, namely Mr Akafia indicated that, a substantial portion of minerals revenue from official minerals export in Ghana in 2022 amounted to 6.8 Billion US Dollars, it rose to 7.8 Billion US Dollars in 2023. That Mining Sector officially injected US7.29 Billion US Dollars into the economy against expenditure on non-energy goods and services, electricity, fuel, or diesel, salaries, taxes, royalties, corporate social investment and that a total of 59.1 percent was paid to the State.
The above details tells that for Ghana to realize economic stability, attain rapid development and create more jobs, the Mining Sector especially mining of bauxite by Ghana Bauxite Company (Mr Ofori Poku and GIADEC) must be supported to push for the rapid growth of both the industrial and with the multiplier effect on the growth of the Services sector.
Let me take the next pages to throw my light on Bauxite in Ghana. It is the ore for production of Aluminum through alumina ingots. It involves the initial mining of bauxite ore, hauling to a stockpile of a refinery to transform bauxite to recover Alumina then to a Smelter to produce Aluminum. Ghana’s Bauxite is made of Trihydrate Oxide with Alumina as 52 percent Silica 1.5 percent discovered as stated it was discovered in 1921 by the Gold Coat Geological Survey Department
The British Aluminum Company mined the Bauxite between 1940 and 2010 with 80 percent stake in Ghana Bauxite Company which is the special purpose vehicle for the mining of Bauxite to denote the source of bauxite. The remaining 20 percent was/is held by the Government of Ghana.
In 2010, the British Aluminum Company offered her 80 percent stake in GBC for sale to the Government of Ghana as part of the holdings agreement which has the first acceptance or refusal. Ghana Government declined to buy, so it was made available for sale in the open Market. The 80 percent stake was bought by Bosai Minerals Company which contracted Ofori Poku Company Ltd for both contract mining and participation in the haulage of the bauxite ore to the Takoradi Harbour.
Due to the failure of Bosai Minerals Company to support the Government of Ghana in the regime of President Nana Addo to achieve the dream of both Brigadier General Guggisburg and President Nkrumah for an integrated Bauxite refinery Solution and Aluminum Smelter in Ghana especially at Awaso or the location of the Bauxite Mine, the GBC lease under Bosai Mining Company was revoked. Since Ghana wanted the establishment of a Bauxite Refinery solution in Ghana to add value to the Bauxite and provide Alumina feed to a local Aluminum smelter and or VALCO Tema.
Ghana by the holding arrangements decline again to buy the 80 percent stake of Bosai Minerals Company. So, based on the UN arm’s length for transaction of this kind to be done in a very honest and transparent manner on equal footing, the 80 percent stake of Bosai Company of China was sold by Bosai Minerals Company of China to Ofori Poku Company Ltd of Ghana, which is a 100 percent Ghanaian owned Company with wide experiences in Bauxite mining whilst the Government of Ghana retained her 20 percent stake since 1940.
Thus Mr Ofori Poku, acquisition of the 80 percent shares in GBC for his Company from Bosai Minerals Group Ltd was done in a very transparent manner in line with international standards, thus there was no wrong doing in the purchase agreement by the Company Mr Ofori Poku as mistakenly believed by Lawyer Martin Kpebu Esq and others of acts of corruption or the false allegation of inside trading as held by him.
The Government of Ghana created Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) and transferred her 20 percent stake in GBC to GIADEC which also holds the government of Ghana shares in VALCO as a special purpose vehicle to work with GBC for the realization of the dream of President Nkrumah. The objective of GIADEC is to transform bauxite into fully integrated value chain including mining, hauling, stockpiling, Bauxite refining, and smelting of alumina to manufacture Aluminum products.
GIADEC has four master plans as four Projects. Project 1 is the Expansion of Awaso Mine and Refinery Solution at Awaso. Project 2 is development of Bauxite Mine at Nyinahin with Refinery Solution. Project 3 is development of Bauxite Mine at Kyebi, a second mine operation at the Nyinahin and building a Refinery. Lastly, Project 4 Modernization and expansion of VALCO Smelter to improve efficiency and increase capacity. GBC is required to make investment in Resources exploration, development and safe mining practices and haulage of the ore to Takoradi Harbour until the proposed Refinery is established by GIADEC.
So, the challenge of GBC is a rapid realization of the expansion of the production of bauxite as part of Project 1. The expansion of the production of the existing Awaso Mine has been achieved with an increase in the volume of export by GBC to 1.8 million tones, this resulted in no job losses from the transition from the Chinese to Ofori Poku Company Ltd or GBC but GBC now realized a rise in the number of jobs due to replacement of Chinese personnel and additional recruitment to man new trucks and equipment due to the expansion of mining
GBC under Mr Ofori Poku has gone an extra mile to build a Community Office and has increased her Social responsibility, since the Company considers success to be intertwined with the welfare of employees and that of the people in the catchment areas.
The Company’s social responsibility is in line with several SDGs, including SDG4 on Quality education. It is committed to gender equality as in SDG5 on Gender equality by employing female in all areas including mining, corporate office, empowering women to occupy leadership role.
Next is the provision of decent work and economy growth for the staff and service providers as required in SDG8. Adherence to requirement of SDG9 on Industry and innovation through infrastructure development especially bridges to connect communities, thus facilitating better transportation within her catchment areas.
Furthermore, working on the attainment of SDG17 on Partnership and Community Engagement through open communication and collaboration by ensuring her operation is align with needs and aspiration of affected communities
Ghana has over 900 million tonnes of bauxite reserves, with Awaso holding 60 Metric tonnes. Ghana thus have the lucrative opportunities to transform the bauxite industry to catalyst industrial growth thus boosting the economy and the creation of jobs.
In June 2024, at AGM, Mr Michael Akafia, the President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines. Indicated that Bauxite production by GBC was expected to be about 1.5 Million Tonnes by the end of year but according GBC, it realized an export of 1.8 Million tonnes by December 2024.
So, His Excellency President JD Mahama is hereby please urged to walk the talk for the 24 hour economy as well as made at the Kwahu Business Forum by seeing Mr Ofori Poku with his 80 percent stake in GBC as his number one partner for the achievement of economic resilience and 24 hour economy.
