Salt sector needs attention – Chamber of Mines

By Isaac Aidoo

The Ghana Chamber of Mines has called for increased attention to be given to Ghana’s salt industry to realise its full potential.

“It’s a natural resource that is not being promoted the way it should be but then there is the need to take full advantage of that resource and exploit it to our benefit,” said the Director Public Affairs for the Chamber and Environment, Mr Ahmed Nantogmah.

Mr Nantogmah made the call during an interview with The Finder on the sidelines of a workshop on oil and gas reporting for some selected Journalists in Accra.

The training programme, on the theme “strengthening media oversight over the extractive sector: Reporting on oil, gas and mining is under the collaborative aegis of the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI) and Penplusbytes.

According to him, the industry has the potential to generate tremendous revenue for the country if it is well marketed to both domestic and international investors.

Salt production in Ghana started in the 19th century and, aside from fishing, it is the major economic activity of people along its 500km coastline. 

The salt producing areas in Ghana include the Keta lagoon, the Songhor lagoon, the Densu Delta area, Nyanya lagoon, Oyibi lagoon, Amisa lagoon, Benyah lagoon.

Salt as a renewable natural resource is said to contribute billions of Ghana cedis annually to the economy and employs more than 1,500 people. 

In the ECOWAS sub-region, the demand for industrial salt is estimated at over 3 million tonnes. Ghana and Senegal, the biggest regional players, possess all the right conditions for commercial salt production and together produce 350,000 tonnes per year. But this is not enough to satisfy demand and imports from Brazil, Australia and Europe make up the shortfall.

Earlier on in his presentation to the participants, Mr Nantogmah noted that the presence of mineral deposits and mining instalments provides an opportunity to catalyze industrial development through the numerous linkages with the other sectors of the economy.

“It is important to state that harnessing and maximizing these opportunities require purposeful interventions from the trustee of mineral resources. At the same time we must recognise the fact that mineral deposits are exhaustible and non-renewable and mining may elicit negative externalities which may defy time,” he pointed out.

The net value of mining to an economy according to him “depends on how these risks and returns are balanced in the statutes and polices governing the sector.”

Throwing light on the mining sector’s contribution to the economy, Mr Nantogmah disclosed that  the sector raked in  GH¢1.1billion as revenue to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) representing 18.7% of GRA’s Total Direct Taxes in 2013.

In spite of the decline in gold price, the minerals sector contributed GH¢518million incorporate tax to the GRA, representing 19.5% of the total company tax collected in 2013. 

The industry accounted for 37.6% of the country’s gross export revenue in 2013, reinforcing its position as a leading source for forex and a major contributor to the country’s balance of payments.Producing members of the Chamber returned US$3.1billion, representing 68% of their mineral revenue through the BoG and the Commercial Banks last year.The sector is the country’s undisputed leading source of foreign direct investment (FDI).Records from the Minerals Commission show that FDI inflow into the mining sector in 2013 was US$1.154billion.Cumulatively, the investment inflow into the sector from 2000 to 2013 stood above US$7billion.

Empowering mining communities with law on mineral revenue use

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Concerns of local communities in the use of mineral royalties would be addressed when the country enacts a Mineral Revenue Law, advocates the Ghana Chamber of Mines (GCM).

Mining communities directly bear the brunt of mineral exploitation, especially environmental pollution. People in these communities however complain they see no benefits of mining to improve their livelihood.

The proper use and formula for sharing of mining royalties are thorny issues in mining communities. Among concerns is that government has used up the revenue from mining without recourse to addressing the development challenges of local mining communities.

Tutuka Central is a small town affected by mining exploration at Obuasi in the Ashanti region. Local electoral area representative, Gifty Owusu Afriyie expects that the municipal assembly would invest its share of mineral royalties in providing potable water for her constituents.

“Even communities which are not closer to the mines have their rivers polluted… so I want to Assembly to increase provision of pipe borne water,” she requested.

The consensus is that deprivation of local people of benefits from mineral resources could be disastrous as they sacrifice farms and livelihood sources for mining to thrive. 

The Centre for Social Impact Studies (CeSIS), an NGO, has advocated that local assemblies be made to be accountable in the use of mineral revenue.

Public Affairs and Environmental Director at the GCM, Ahmed Nantogmah, believes the passage of the mineral revenue legislation would empower mining communities to demand accountability in the application of royalties.

“So that people will spend mineral revenue according to particular stipulations and regulation,” he opined.

He noted that it is high time government heeded the suggestion for the law, which should be fashioned along the lines of the Petroleum Revenue Management Law.

“Recently we’ve seen that the Minerals Commission has come up with guidelines on utilization of royalties but we believe that it should go beyond the guidelines,” stated Mr. Nantogmah.

Local assemblies presently access 10 percent of total mineral royalties received by government for community development projects.

The Chamber has reiterated calls on government for the amount to be increased to 30 percent.

This in addition to targeted spending of the royalties would help drive local development, said Mr. Nantogmah.

Journalists urged to focus on investigative Journalism

Kodjo Adams, Ghana News Agency

Accra, Sept 17,Mr Fred Avornyo, Couse Facilitator for Course B Oil and Gas Training Programme for selected Journalists in the country has urged media practitioners to go beyond just reporting events but focus more on analytical Journalism.

He said most of the media landscape has neglected investigative Journalism and called for an in-depth analysis of issues in a holistic approach by giving different perspectives for easy understanding.
Mr Avornyo gave the advice at a training programme for 9 Ghanaian Journalists organized by the International Institute of ICT Journalism’s (Penplusbytes) in collaboration with Natural Resource Governance Institute.
The workshop builds on an earlier training for Ugandans, Tanzanians and Ghanaian Journalists held in Kampala, Uganada in June 2014.
The 10 programme is on the theme “Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors dubbed “Reporting on Oil, Gas and Mining” Course B training workshop.
 “We need to break away from the usual way of reporting and subject authorities to critical scrutiny to unveil issues of national interest because such initiative tells the story in an effective and efficient way” he added.

He said it behooves on Journalists to be liable to the public by reporting issues that can change mindsets and promote sustainable development in the society.
Mr Avornyo said that the journalists, serving as the voice for the voiceless has a strategic role to play by educating the masses on activities in the extractive sector for the public to be empowered and know how the nation’s resources are effectively utilized.
He noted that Journalists must have the urge and an analytical mind to pursue stories of national interest to its logical conclusion.

“As Journalists you need to do more research to get backgrounds of issues for clearer understanding and that there is the need to build capacity by reading and learning to be rich in knowledge acquisition”

He said an effective investigative Journalist is someone who has the nose for news, exhibit sense of determination, be circumspect and ensure balance reportage.

Mr Avornyo implored Journalists to constantly review their works to access their performance and improve upon the weaknesses and be ready to work as a team.

Penplusbytes is an organization in Africa working in three areas: governance and accountability, new media and innovations and oil, gas and mining. It consists of a network of media organizations and Journalists interested in in using ICT to advanced high quality Journalism.

NRGI is a non-profit policy institute and grant-making organization that promotes effective, transparent and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public good through capacity building, technical assistance research and advocacy.

INCREASE THE MINERAL ROYALTY ALLOCATIONS TO MINING COMMUNITIES

By Dominic Hlordzi-Radio Ghana

The Ghana Chamber of Mines has reiterated the need for the Government of Ghana to increase the allocation of mining royalties to the District Assemblies to enable them to undertake significant projects for the benefit of people in mining communities. The Public Affairs and Environmental Director of the Chamber, Ahmed Nantogmah said this at an Oil, Gas and Mining Course sponsored by the Natural Resource Governance Institute and Penplusbytes for selected journalists in Accra.

He observed that the present ten percent of the total royalties Mining Companies pay to government which is allocated to the mining communities is inadequate, adding that the communities’ share should be increase to thirty percent. 

“Communities keep complaining that they are not seeing the benefits of mining, especially those around the mines. They bear the brunt of mining but they don’t see what mining is giving them but we know that government takes all the royalties and sent back only ten percent for distribution to the communities. We hope that if government increased the ten percent to say thirty percent and tie it to specific projects that are tagged mineral royalties’ projects the benefit will be visible to the people”

This he stated if done will enable the people to cite the projects as their share of mineral revenues. He noted that presently there is nothing like that in the communities but rather one can see HIPC toilets and HIPC schools. “There is no royalty school when royalties are been paid to the government.  We think that if government increases the money it will help in the development of the communities. “He stated.

Mr. Nantogmah also suggested that the money be tied to specific projects for a specific period and regulated by law so that the royalties cannot be misused. The Chamber also called for the promulgation of a new mineral revenue law akin to the Petroleum Revenue Management Law so that leaders will spend mineral revenues according to the regulations and provisions in the Law. Mr. Nantogmah asked regulators to ensure responsible mining by eliminating illegal mining.

The Africa Regional Social Responsibility Manger of Newmont, Emmanuel Ato Aubynn said the biggest challenge of the Company presently is how to strategies to survive in what he termed the turbulence period of the industry. He noted that about a month ago the Gold price was about 1,400 Dollars per ounces but today it is hovering around 1,235 Dollars per ounces and so within a cycle of one month one can imagine how the price has reduced. “So if you are working in an industry with unpredictable price that you sell your products it becomes very difficult to actually plan and as a result the news about redundancy in the sector actually happened because we have to think first about the business survivability before thinking about individuals.” Mr. Aubynn stated.

He explained that Newmont has operated for ninety years and the Mangers are determined to sustain the vision of wanting to operate for a very long time and as a result the past leaders took the right decision to survive the business.

 “We are close to the books and we know how the heat is affecting us. People sitting out might think that because in our parlance Gold is money therefore who ever mines it is quite rich. Somebody outside might think that we are making money.”  

The Africa Regional Social Responsibility Manger said the Company strongly believes that things might turn around so at this time that it may be operating at break-even point or any other level of profitability it hopes that if things reorganize very effectively the situation might change because the gold industry is cyclical, today the price is up, tomorrow the price is down.

Mr. Aubynn was emphatic “We don’t want to close the mine. Once we close the mine totally it will affect Ghana, it will affect the communities, it will affect employees and so we still believe that we can sustain it and be able to improve things in the coming years.”

The Programme was organized by Penplusbytes together with Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) on the theme “Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors: Reporting on Oil, Gas and Mining” Course B training workshop.

It is aimed at building the capacity of journalists to positively influence the transparent and accountable management of mining, oil and gas industries in Ghana.

The workshop builds on an earlier programme for Ugandans, Tanzanians and Ghanaians Journalists held at the Africa Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) in Kampala, Uganda in June 2014.

Ghanaian students spurn oil & Gas courses

By Adu Koranteng

Students in Ghana are refusing to undertake courses on oil and gas at the various public universities in Ghana due to uncertainty in the job market, information gathered reveals.

Speaking to the New Crusading Guide after a presentation on oil and gas under the team, understanding the Product: “Hydrocarbon”, Dr S.K Donyinah, a lecturer on Oil gas at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology said since these courses were introduced after the discovery of oil and gas in Ghana, Majority of graduates who undertook these programmes have failed to secure jobs after completion. This he said has caused fear and panic among young students who are now opting for business programmes.

The rate of student population undertaking these courses have reduced drastically due to the fear associated with it. Most students who completed the courses have not been able to secure jobs and his creates uncertainty among the young ones. They are now opting for business programmes where job opportunities are high and assured”. He stated.

Research indicates that even locals working in the oil and gas industry are not well paid compared to the expatriates. Besides,

 Meanwhile, Ms Doe Agbolosoo-Mensah, an official in charge of corporate Planning at the Ghana National Petroleum corporation in an interview with the New Crusading Guide  said  employers in the industry  are not looking for graduates in Bachelor of Arts  and science or Masters in Business Administration(MBA) in  Oil and Gas  but  engineers, geologists, technician’s  and  other highly qualified technical people with high level  experience.

 “So students who have undertaken Bachelor   and MBA programmes in Oil and Gas have basic knowledge in oil and gas but what is required is technical knowledge, and there are few. So they may claim that there are no jobs in the sector when there are enormous opportunities available for technical staff.   We are therefore encouraging Ghanaians to acquire more technical and vocational skills to get secured jobs in the oil and gas sector,” she advised.

MASTER PLAN NEEDED FOR GAS SECTOR-Expert Advices.

By   Malise Otoo

The Acting Dean of Central University College and Oil expert, Prof. Kwaku Appiah-Adu has advised government of Ghana to ensure that a master plan is drawn in preparedness of the gas sector.

He was speaking during the second day of a 9 days’ workshop organized by Natural Revenue Governance Resource Institute and Penplusbytes here in Accra under the theme, ’’strengthening media oversight of the Extractive sector; reporting on oil, gas and mining’’.

According to the oil expert, in developing nations, natural resources and extractive industries sector is shaped by and has an influence on political, societal and institution dynamics. 

Ghana, in 2007 discovered large petroleum deposits and in just a matter of three years was able to promulgate laws and policies to manage the resource. Key amongst these laws includes Petroleum Commission Act, Local Content and Participation Act 2013, Petroleum Revenue Management Act, and already existing Petroleum Income Tax law 1987 and the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill currently before parliament. 

He therefore congratulated the country for taking the bold step towards getting the regulatory framework right towards the journey of achieving a political economy of Ghana’s oil and gas sector. But however, was quick to add that before Ghana can achieve this, it is important for the country to take a closer look at some pertinent issues regarding the industry. 

These issues includes but not limited to a review of certain portions of the exploration and production bill currently before parliament before its passed to ensure the media show keen interest in monitoring the transparency of the issuance of exploration licenses in an open tender bid rather than the discretionary powers given to the Minister of Energy and Petroleum in awarding contracts and licenses to these companies.  

Similarly, Prof Appiah-Adu mentioned that a master plan which spells out the ownership of the gas and way forward for the sector is crucial. ‘’We need a master plan and we need it as much as possible for the gas sector‘’.  Currently, GNPC owns the gas from jubilee which part is being flared and part re-injected into the FPSO only because Tullow and other partners were not interested in the gas right from the beginning of the actual exploration in 2010.  

The constitution clearly puts ownership of Ghana’s natural resource in the people and states in summary the exploration of these resources must be to the benefit of the people of Ghana although GNPC represents the government and people of Ghana in all negotiations in this regard through its 13.75 % stake in mineral rights. 

It may be noteworthy to state that countries like Trinidad and Tobacco and Mozambique which just discovered gas in large quantities in 2013, owns fully the mineral rights to these resources. 

Furthermore, legislation for the funding of the Petroleum Commission is needed.  Production, royalties and other fiscal benefits of the natural resources must be monitored. A decommissioning fund should be set up to deal with excesses and other ramifications to the environment as a result of these finds.  Environmental and socio-economic impacts of these resources must be closely addressed in his view. 

Lastly, as Ghana is now credit worthy as a result of its oil discovery, there is the need to, ‘’price competitively’’, to ensure value for money of her resource.

LET’S JEALOUSLY GUARD HERITAGE AND STABILISATION FUNDS-POLICY ANALYST

By Mark Boye

Mr. Emmanuel Kuyole, Country Manager of Natural Resource Governance Institute, (NRGI) has urged Ghana to jealously guard the heritage and stabilisation funds, for the benefit of unborn generations.

He said calls by people for the nation to expend the two funds are misplaced, since the best way to protect the interests of future generations is to save monies for them, adding if the nation is challenged today does not necessitate the need to use funds meant for future use.

His suggestions come on the heels of calls made some few months ago by, the general secretary of the Ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and some public figures in the country to utilise the two funds.

The total sum of the two funds which are kept in an offshore account at the end of 2013 was $447,160,095.55 million.

 Mr. Kuyole was speaking at an oil, gas and mining training programme for journalists at the New Media Hub in Accra. 

Touching on the processes for revenue collection and distribution, Mr. Kuyole stated that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), notifies the ministry of Finance (MOF) and Bank of Ghana (BOG) about each lifting, including price and volumes. 

“BOG in turn notifies MOF when the lifting proceeds hit the PHF, MOF does the distribution of funds based on the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA)”, he stated. 

He continued that MOF does the distribution of funds based on the PRMA; and that, MOF writes to Controller and Account General Department (CAGD) to instruct BOG to proceed with the distribution but the BOG executes distribution.

The Programme was organised by Penplusbytes together with Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) on the theme “Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors: Reporting on Oil, Gas and Mining” Course B training workshop.

The 10-day slated from 15th - 23rd of September 2014 is aimed at building the capacity of journalists to positively influence the transparent and accountable management of mining, oil and gas industries in Ghana. 

The workshop builds on an earlier programme for Ugandans, Tanzanians and Ghanaians Journalists held at the Africa Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) in Kampala, Uganda in June 2014.