Mining Expert Commends MIIF
…Urges Management To Protect Fund Against Gov’t Interference
Mining engineer and consultant, Wisdom Edem Gomashie, has commended management of Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) for the prudent investment of Ghana’s mineral revenues and royalty for the benefit of the citizenry.
He, however, admonished the Board to protect the Fund against any interference or abuse by government to borrow monies from it to pay debts.
According to him, it is refreshing to note that, for the first time in three years, there is evidence of what the country’s mineral revenues, have been used for, by way of financing multinational mining firms, among others.
Contributing to the discussion at second MIIF stakeholders’ forum on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, in Accra, Ing. Gomashie said, “I will first of all, commend the Minerals Income Investment Fund. In the last two or three years, as young as I am, this is the first time in recent years that you can pinpoint that this is what mining revenues have been able to do…Kudos to the Board and the CEO”.
He mentioned that, “Today, we are happy as Ghanaians, knowing our own mineral royalty is financing multinational mining companies in this country, I am happy our mineral revenue is financing Electrochem Ghana Limited, I am happy our mineral revenue is financing small scale mining activities. And if you go to UMaT today, MIIF is putting up a jewelry sector which is key to this value-chain activities we are talking of”.
The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT)-trained mining engineer, also suggested MIIF should partner with the Chamber of Mines, to see if they can develop mining communities by putting up industries.
He expressed concern about a Clause in the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, which he said needs to be looked at.
“MIIF is having a vision to leapfrog from one billion to six billion. But I have an issue with the Act. Somewhere around section 3 (H), I took a review of the whole Act and I am concerned, though the Act is being weaned off domestic financing.
But there is a clause in there which indicates that MIIF, can help develop financing arrangements on the back of development activities. It is a worry to me, because it maybe abused by government to borrow monies. And one day you wake up and everything in the Sovereign Fund is being used to pay debt. So, we will need to look at that carefully,” he recommended.
Value entrepreneurs
Touching on the issue of value addition, the special assistant to the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resource responsible for Mines, said at the heart of value addiction, is the need to add value to indigenous entrepreneurs.
“We need to understand that the key value addition as African countries is for us to add value to our entrepreneurs. I am saying that because of Electrochem. If it were to be a foreign company that was to be developing what they were developing, I beg to differ, the challenges maybe minimal and I am calling on all of us here to support. If you go to Nigeria, they used oil to produce all their billionaires. In Ghana, we can’t speak for our gold, so we need to support our entrepreneurs”.
He emphasized that, value addition also means “we need to domesticate. Now we are producing salt so, we will be happy you tell the finance minister to cut import of salt”.
Source: Anchorghana.com
