Dr. Kenneth Bansah, a mining expert has called on government and extractive industry stakeholders to fundamentally re-evaluate how Ghana quantifies national returns from its mineral resources.

He contends that assessing the impact of large-scale mining exclusively through conventional fiscal returns namely statutory taxes, dividends, and mineral royalties presents an incomplete baseline that underestimates the country’s true economic potential.

True value creation, according to the renowned mining researcher, lies in aggressive local ownership of core mining operations and support services, which ensures that a significantly higher share of wealth stays within the national domestic economy.

“Ghana must move beyond employment, taxes, and royalties in measuring the benefits derived from mining. Greater Ghanaian ownership of mining operations and services offers a great opportunity to retain more economic value within the country. There have been calls to suspend the policy, but it is important to recognize that local ownership and workers’ welfare can advance together.”
Dr. Kenneth Bansah

Dr. Bansah notes that while direct employment generation and corporate tax contributions remain essential pillars, they often restrict host nations to passive receivers of peripheral rents rather than active equity managers.

The transition toward deepening local content mandates across the extraction value chain provides a strategic avenue to build domestic industrial capacity, capture specialized technical know-how, and build resilient Ghanaian commercial enterprises.

Recent policy dialogues surrounding the Minerals Commission’s contract mining directive demonstrate the potential of domestic equity participation, proving that local ownership and robust labor standards can function as mutually reinforcing pillars rather than competing interests.

The Case for Local Ownership and Economic Value Retention

For decades, mineral-rich African nations have grappled with the enclave nature of extractive operations, where raw resources are exported while critical capital, supply contracts, and profits flow outward.

Dr. Bansah stresses that achieving true resource sovereignty requires Ghanaian firms to step into core operational roles rather than limiting their footprint to peripheral services like catering, security, or basic transportation.

By expanding the involvement of indigenous companies into high-value technical areas such as heavy equipment maintenance, drilling, blasting, and mineral processing, the nation can stem profit repatriation.

This shift transforms host communities from passive onlookers into active wealth builders, retaining critical capital that can be reinvested into real estate, infrastructure, and diverse domestic industries.

Protecting Workers’ Welfare and Establishing Industry Standards

While the drive toward local content remains an urgent national priority, the practical execution must carefully protect labor standards.

Concerns raised by labor unions most notably the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) highlight the risk of aggressive contract undercutting, where local contractors’ trim wages, benefits, and safety provisions to secure competitive mining concessions.

Dr. Bansah asserts that regulatory interventions, such as those initiated by the Minerals Commission, must establish non-negotiable minimum benchmarks for workers’ remuneration and operational safety.

Principal mining companies bear a responsibility to structure contract rates at sustainable levels, ensuring indigenous contractors possess sufficient margin to operate safely, maintain heavy machinery, and offer fair compensation.

Phased Transitions and Capacity Building for Sustainable Ownership

A sudden shift in operational mandates can strain domestic contractors that lack the capital depth or technical infrastructure needed to manage complex industrial concessions independently.

To mitigate operational disruptions, Dr. Bansah advocates for a structured, phased transition framework that equips indigenous firms to scale up systematically.

Under this model, domestic companies with proven operational capacity are granted immediate autonomy, while growing enterprises receive targeted capacity-building support.

Implementing clear legal frameworks, such as the Minerals and Mining (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, enables Ghana to build a competitive class of local mining executives without compromising production standards or worker safety.