Prestea Sankofa Gold Limited (PSGL), the State Gold Mining Company which plays its role akin to GNPC in the mining sector has since the past five years remained non-operational and efforts to revamp it has still not materialized.

After shutting down operations as a result of bad governance, an action which led to the sack of about three hundred (300) workers, series of engagements with various stakeholders have been held and yet the State Gold Mining Company still remains dormant.

The irony of the situation lies in the fact that the government has woken up to reality— considering the possible stranding of the country’s petroleum assets due to the ongoing energy transition and is thus, galvanizing efforts towards that end. Quite unfortunately, there appears to be a disregard for same in the mining sector.

In 2020, a Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy recommended that GNPC, its peer and Parent Company ceases allocating funds from its petroleum operations to support PSGL. And this had been the practice since PSGL’s dormancy in 2016.

Due to the company’s inadequacies, the Committee held the view that the continuous expenditure on such non-revenue generation venture was financially not prudent. Meanwhile, at the time, the GNPC indicated that efforts geared towards revamping the sector have all proved futile.

Given current global concerns of climate change and the shift of investments away from carbon-emitting undertakings, looking for potential investors to take over the company may prove difficult.

Nonetheless, considering the above circumstances, this leaves the government with the option to ensure a revamping of the company is possible.

Besides, the important role PSGL is expected to play in the gold mining sector, similar to GNPC’s in the oil and gas sector, cannot be overlooked and be allowed to fail.

Resource Governance Index for Prestea Sankofa Gold Mining Limited

In addition to this, the 2021 Resource Governance Index of the State Gold Mining Company was not assessed as a result of lack of operations. That notwithstanding, the previous assessment of the company in 2017 scored it 41 out of 100 in the SOE subcompnent.

Nasir Alfa Mohammed, a Policy Advocacy Officer with the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) notes that:

“…The significant role Pretsea Sankofa is expected to play in the gold mining sector, similar to GNPC’s in the oil and gas sector, the inability to assess the SOE subcomponent for Ghana’s mining sector in the 2021 RGI due to the stated lack of activities, is disheartening.”
Nasir Alfa Mohammed, Policy Advocacy Officer, Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI)

Successfully ensuring that Prestea Sankofa gets back on its feet and assumes similar roles as GNPC in the mining sector would improve the management of the company. By this, the country would be able to realize greater dividends and ensure significant progress in the mining sector.

If GNPC, which began not long ago is thriving, why is it that the same model cannot be replicated for Prestea Sankofa Gold Mining Limited?

Clearly, the government should put in efforts to revive Prestea Sankofa’s operations, ensuring improved and better governance of the company in order to realize the potential benefits it can offer the country.