Mahama hints of plans to pass Local Content Bill to promote local participation in extractive industries

President John Dramani Mahama has hinted of the Government’s plan to ensure the passage of the Local Content Bill by Parliament, as part of efforts to promote local participation in the nation’s extractive industry.

The President made the disclosure in his remarks in London during a Town Hall Meeting with the Ghanaian diaspora community living in the United Kingdom.

The engagement forms part of the President’s five-day official visit to the UK

“We also are pushing for greater participation in our resources. It is only natural. I mean, for many years, we have given out huge concessions to foreign companies. They come, they mine, after they finish, they just leave the scars of the mining with poor communities dotted around,” the President stated.

He said the Government recently introduced what they call a Sliding Scale, adding that the sliding scale goes from 5 to 12.

“And so, if the price goes down to, let’s use gold as an example, if the price goes down to say $2,000 or $2,300, the minimum reality is five per cent.” He said.

“But if the price goes up to about $4,500, the sliding scale pushes the realities up to 12 per cent. And so, Ghana gets more from the reality. So that’s one of the changes we’ve made.”

President Mahama said they were also passing a Local Content Bill, which means that all the ancillary, work and subcontracting in mining must be given to Ghanaian companies.

He said Ghana had more than enough geologists and civil engineers and that they had companies that were capable of doing all that subcontracting.

“Before, they used to be transfer pricing because the same company doing the mining will form a foreign subsidiary and award the contract to them to come and do the mining. And then they raise the prices of subcontracting. And so they’re making profit here and making profit there.” He said.

“And so we’re saying that you do the mining, make a profit. But the subcontracting work, hauling, drilling, blasting must be done by Ghanaian companies so that a component of the profit of mining remains locally in our country.”

Councillor Dawn Barnes, the Mayor of Haringey, lauded the contributions of Ghanaians to the development of the UK, citing their roles in the health sector as nurses.