President John Dramani Mahama has announced government plans to establish two gold refineries to process and add value to the country’s gold production.
President Mahama announced this when he addressed the Ghanaian community Massachusetts, USA, as part his 10-day official visit to that country.
He said the establishment of the refineries would not only give the country better value for its gold, but would also create job opportunities for more Ghanaians who would be employed in those refineries.
Since his arrival, President Mahama had addressed the 69th Session of the United Nations Assembly, attended and participated in crucial debates pertaining to the economy and governance, held bilateral discussions and engaged the business community with the hope of wooing them for investment in Ghana and Africa.
The President explained that while one of the refineries would be funded by the Precious Minerals Commission, the other one would be a foreign direct investment.
The processing of the gold before exporting, he said, would reduce “the risk of losing millions of cedis in the event of any fall of gold prices on the international market.”
President Mahama said the refineries would also encourage mining companies to carry out their activities throughout the year, unlike the current state when most of them shut up anytime there were falls in prices of the commodity on the international market.
He said, currently, the proceeds of Ghana’s oil was negligible since the whole of last year the country earned a total of $700 million, which was comparatively lower than cocoa and gold.
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Source: GNA