The Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsuaem, Issah Salifu Taylor, is spearheading efforts to establish a modern manganese refinery at Nsuta in the Western Region, a project expected to create thousands of jobs and deliver a significant boost to Ghana’s broader industrialisation agenda.
The proposed facility, to be developed by Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) Limited at its existing operational site in Nsuta, forms part of a national push to move Ghana away from exporting raw minerals and towards local processing and value addition, a priority that sits at the heart of President John Dramani Mahama’s economic transformation agenda.
The project is still in its preparatory stages, but the groundwork being laid by the MP suggests a deliberate and structured approach to getting it off the ground, one that has already taken him to China and back.
The China Trip That Started It All
In a bid to gauge the seriousness of the investment, Mr Taylor travelled to China alongside the Deputy Managing Director of Ghana Manganese Company, Yuanwei Sun, to meet the company’s principal investor and owner directly.
The discussions centred on the investor’s commitment, preparedness, and roadmap for establishing the refinery. By all accounts, the meeting went well.
The investor expressed strong enthusiasm for the project and made a specific appeal to the MP, one that set the tone for everything that has followed since.
The investor reaffirmed the company’s readiness to commit the resources needed to ensure the successful execution of the project, and appealed to me to support efforts to secure the necessary permits, approvals, and licences required under Ghanaian law.
Issah Salifu Taylor, Member of Parliament, Tarkwa Nsuaem
An Independent Eye On The Ground
Upon returning to Ghana, Mr Taylor moved quickly. Rather than relying solely on the company’s own assessments, he constituted an independent team of technical experts to evaluate the project’s readiness and engage Ghana Manganese Company management on the practical steps required for implementation.
The team brought together serious expertise. It included Professor Shadrach Fosu, a mining engineering expert at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT); Dr Erick Gyimah, an environmental engineering expert also at UMaT; mining expert Sanni Abdul-Aziz; and Salifu Imran from the MP’s office.
The delegation visited the company and was received by senior management led by Mr Sun, who provided a comprehensive briefing on work already completed, key milestones achieved, and the support required from government institutions to move the project forward.
The team also conducted a field inspection of the proposed refinery site under the guidance of the company’s Business Improvement Manager and Project Lead, Dr Emmanuel Coffie – a visit that offered firsthand insight into the preparations already under way and reinforced confidence in the project’s feasibility.
Thousands Of Jobs On The Line
Addressing Ghana Manganese Company management after the visit, Mr Taylor was unambiguous about what the refinery means for the people of Tarkwa Nsuaem and the country at large.
The refinery has the potential to transform the economic fortunes of the municipality by creating sustainable employment opportunities for thousands of young people while increasing government revenue through mineral value addition.
Issah Salifu Taylor, MP, Tarkwa Nsuaem
He pledged his full support for the initiative and outlined a clear path forward on the regulatory front, which he acknowledged remains the most immediate hurdle between the project and ground-breaking.
I pledged to work closely with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, relevant regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders to facilitate the processing of all necessary documentation, permits, and licences required for the commencement of the project.
Issah Salifu Taylor
What Comes Next
Mr Taylor disclosed that he is currently awaiting a comprehensive technical report from the expert team, which will guide future engagements with regulators and policymakers. That report is expected to sharpen the conversation with the relevant government institutions and give the project a firmer technical footing as it moves through the approvals process.
The broader context matters here. Ghana’s mining sector has long been criticised for exporting raw materials with little to no processing done on home soil, leaving the country with a fraction of the value its mineral wealth could generate. A manganese refinery of this scale, backed by a committed foreign investor, assessed by independent Ghanaian technical experts, and championed by a sitting MP with direct access to the company’s ownership – represents exactly the kind of value-addition project successive governments have promised but rarely delivered.
Whether the Nsuta refinery breaks that pattern will depend on how smoothly the permits, approvals, and licences that the investor is counting on can be secured. Mr Taylor appears determined to make sure that question is answered sooner rather than later.
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