According to the Coordinator for the Third World Network, Dr. Yao Graham, this is also likely to impact the revenue from the mining sector going forward.

Goldfields Ghana Limited has announced that it is changing its operational strategy from owner mining to contract mining.

The situation has led to the laying off of some one thousand five hundred (1500) workers at its Tarkwa mine.

The decision has been heavily resisted by the Ghana Mine Workers’ Union who have accused the company of acting in bad faith leading to a demonstration on Monday, March 12, 2018.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Dr. Yao Graham explained that the issues must be carefully monitored.

“The quality of work, remuneration and security of the workers are being cut and it is important to also know that once this precedent is set, the nature of large scale mining sector work as we know it, is going to end forever because Anglogold Ashanti is also lining up to carry out something similar. All over the world what happens to casualisation is that the company protects its returns and the share of value that is created going to the labour force drops,” he argued.

The Third World Network has expressed opposition to the move by Goldfields saying it is in breach of a contract agreed on with the government of Ghana in 2016.

The agreement granted Goldfields some tax waivers which led to its saving about 20 million dollars in taxes yearly.

Per the agreement, the mining company was to keep jobs and possibly create new ones to boost economic growth.

Dr. Yao Graham believes the failure by Goldfields to comply with all these makes it necessary to revise the earlier agreement to protect the interest of the affected workers.

“So if you consider that the large scale gold mining sector does not create that many jobs and that Goldfields got the Ghana government to give it controversial tax concession with the promise that it will not only keep jobs but will create more jobs and two years later we are seeing this, I would describe it as a blow in the cheek,” he added.

Meanwhile speaking on the same program, the Vice President and Stakeholder Relations Manager for Goldfields, David Johnson maintained that the decision to change its operations to contract mining; is in the best interest of all stakeholders.

He however explains that the management will continue engaging the workers to address all outstanding issues.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Layoffs at Goldfields will impact mining sector adversely – Dr. Yao Graham appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), on Monday, March 5, 2018, announced that electricity tariffs will go down between 10 and 30 percent for various categories of consumers.

The decision follows the completion of the necessary consultations with all stakeholders in the energy sector.

The Executive Secretary of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Maame Dufie Ofori justified the basis for reduction in the utility tariffs for consumers.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Madam Dufie Ofori attributed the decision to declines in key components of the tariff.

“Gas price has come down; at the time they were asking for proposals, the hydro allocation was only 60 percent. Now it is 65 percent which means it is a cheaper source of generation. Because of the renegotiated power purchase agreement, their capacity charges have gone down ranging between 20 to 25 percent and also their losses too have been reviewed,” she stated.

Citi Business News has been speaking to some businesses and they are highly expectant of the massive reduction in cost of operation.

For mining companies that are to enjoy some ten percent reduction in tariffs effective the 15^th of this month, the news means they could be saving as much as 2 million to 3 million dollars annually.

The Director of External Affairs and Communications at the Ghana Chamber of Mines Ahmed Nangtomah says this should improve operations in the mining sector.

“So the companies that are with the ECG will be impacted by this direction and to them it is good news because 10 percent reduction in electricity bills is good enough for some of the companies who spend up to about 28 million dollars a year on electricity needs. So they will just factor this into their costing. They can save now and improve efficiency along the line.”

Meanwhile, the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), whose members comprise non residential users, has equally lauded the reduction.

As the Executive Member of GUTA, Benjamin Yeboah explains, the 30 percent drop should reflect significantly in the cost of doing business for members.

“Every user has a separate regulatory meter so definitely if we know that the you usually buy let’s say 500 cedis or 1,000 cedis for a month and you are using the same gadgets, definitely now if you should buy that much a month, you will realize that at the end of the month you will have some reduction so definitely you will be able to save.”

While admitting that it may be too late for residential consumers to be considered in the reductions, the Executive Director of the Consumer Protection Agency, Kofi Kapito maintains the reduction should bring respite to consumers.

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By: Citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Reduced tariffs: Mining firms to save 3 million dollars annually appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the court presided over by Justice Laurenda Owusu, the mining company risks losing more if the court halts the ongoing layoffs before a determination of the substantive matter on whether they acted within law.

The suit before the court was initiated on behalf of the workers by the Ghana Mine Workers’ Union (GMWU).

In the writ, the workers are praying the court to restrain Goldfields from going ahead with the intended redundancy exercise until all the stakeholders involved.

They are also seeking a declaration from the court that the redundancy exercise is “unlawful” because the reasons given by the mining giant to lay them off do not meet the “requirements, conditions or grounds for redundancy, as provided by Section 65 of the Labour Act, 2013, Act 651”.

The workers further want the court to declare that the purported authorisation of the redundancy exercise by the Chief Labour Officer is “illegal, unlawful and null and void”.

Goldfields Ghana Limited in December 2017 announced that it will have to lay off some 1,500 workers at its Tarkwa mine.

The move also followed plans by Goldfields to shift from owner mining to contract mining.

The mining firm argued that the latter is more cost efficient compared to the former practice.

The court is however expected to hear the case on whether Goldfields is justified in the decision to lay off staff for resorting to contract mining, subsequently.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku & Fred Tettey Djagbanor/ citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Court dismisses injunction case against layoffs at Goldfields appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Judge, Laurenda Owusu said she will rely on the relevant provisions in civil procedure rules, CI 47 and all the processes filed to deliver its ruling on the set date.

The suit before the court was initiated on behalf of the workers by the Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU).

In the writ, the workers are praying the court to restrain Goldfields from going ahead with the intended redundancy exercise until all the stakeholders involved.

They are also seeking a declaration from the court that the redundancy exercise is “unlawful” because the reasons given by the mining giant to lay them off do not meet the “requirements, conditions or grounds for redundancy, as provided by Section 65 of the Labour Act, 2013, Act 651”.

The workers further want the court to declare that the purported authorisation of the redundancy exercise by the Chief Labour Officer is “illegal, unlawful and null and void”.

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By: Citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Court to rule on Goldfields workers’ case on March 2 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This award recognizes Newmont Ghana for:

• Consistently meeting its tax obligations
• Complying with Ghana’s tax laws and the company’s
• Willingness to support the GRA’s tax collection and compliance improvement initiatives.

Newmont Ghana’s operations in Ahafo and Akyem contributed over GHc 560 million in taxes, royalties and levies to the Government through the Ghana Revenue Authority, bringing its total tax payments since 2004 to about GHc 2.8 billion. The 2017 payments consisted of GHc 264 million in Corporate Income Tax, GHc138 million in Mineral Royalty, GHc 94 million in Pay As You Earn (PAYE), GHc 56 million in Withholding Tax, and GHc16 million in Forestry Levy.

“We are honoured to be recognized for our contributions to national development last year. It is rewarding to see that our continued partnership with the Government and other stakeholders is creating shared value for our communities and the broader Ghanaian community,” said Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Chief Financial Officer – Newmont Africa.

Beyond meeting its tax obligations to the Government, Newmont Ghana also supports the nation’s growth through employment opportunities and local content development. As at 2016, Newmont’s total workforce at its Ahafo and Akyem mines comprised of 39.2% and 47.1% of community locals, exceeding its targets of 24% and 35%, respectively. Additionally, the company purchased about US$18 million in goods and services from local businesses and US$300 million from other Ghanaian suppliers.

“We will continue to support the implementation of Ghana’s tax administration and legislations and believe that through the ongoing collaboration with the Government of Ghana, our regulators and host communities, Newmont Ghana will continue to operate sustainably to keep creating value and improving the lives of the people of Ghana,” says Mr. Addo-Kufuor.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Newmont Ghana awarded Best and Largest Taxpayer for 2017 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Government has announced some measures to block the leakages in the revenue generated from the export of gold.

Citi Business News has been speaking to some industry players to seek their perspectives on the effectiveness of the interventions in raking in the required revenue from gold exports.

It suggests that the government will among other things have to strengthen the institutions mandated to check the revenue streams to track down on possible instances of under declaration.

Gov’t admits under-declared gold export revenue

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at this year’s edition of the annual New Year school at the University of Ghana, lamented the loss of revenue through undervalued gold exports.

He assured that government will take steps to address the situation.

“What we are going to demand is a transparent account for all our natural resources that we are exporting; for the most part we are just told that we are exporting this amount of gold, how sure are we that that is the exact amount of gold that is being exported, we are going to insist on a transparent accounting for our natural resources.”

Dr Bawumia has also said that government is working on a law that will give some state agencies the power to check and inspect the total production of gold before it leaves the country.

His comments followed the disclosure of about 5 billion dollars worth of gold unaccounted for in the export of the commodity from Ghana to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Gold exporters demand more from regulators

However in a bid to proffer some solutions, the Treasurer of the Association of Gold Exporters, Dr. Abu Grant has called on the Minerals Commission to take steps to prevent recalcitrant Gold exporters from exploiting the Commission’s systems.

“The Minerals Commission needs to be steadfast and make sure the systems they’ve put in place are not abused. Everything that has to be done to prevent gold revenue losses has already been done. Every licensed gold exporter has at least two to three weeks to repatriate the proceeds after exporting gold. If you flout the repatriation rules and you want to export, you should face some difficulty”.

He, however, blames the previous board of Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) for its role in the loss of revenue from Gold exports in recent times.

“We know that through the PMMC, a lot of people have exported gold without repatriating back the proceeds. A lot of Indians back then were exporting a lot of gold through the PMMC without returning the proceeds. I definitely blame the previous management of PMMC. They created all the loopholes that people are taking advantage of,” he asserted.

Following the development, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu  is not happy with the trend in the industry.

Like the Vice President, he says government will soon roll out an audit for all mining companies to ensure that the companies declare the accurate revenue.

“As a government, we have been short changed for a long time within the history of a country that is involved in mining; what the ministry in collaboration with government agencies seeks to do now is to introduce what we call an operational audit of mining firms and this is going to be across all mining companies that are going to work in this country”.

Mines Chamber declare support for probe

Director of External Affairs and Communications at the Ghana Chamber of Mines Ahmed Nantogmah has stated that  mining companies will support the intention of the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry to roll out the audit.

“Definitely I’m sure they will have modalities as to how they will have it done and when they will have it done and definitely as mining companies, I don’t think anybody will say no so we will wait for the Minister to send us the modalities and then we will take it from there.”

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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t moves in to stop under-valued gold exports appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The audit which will be rolled out in the next two to three weeks, is to ensure that revenue received by government from the country’s mining industry, is accurate.

This also follows a recent disclosure of undervalued revenue received from gold exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In an interview with Citi Business News, the Director of External Affairs and Communications at the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ahmed Nantogmah, also said the mining companies will wait for official directives from the ministry on what to do to help in its endeavor.

“Definitely; I’m sure they will have modalities as to how they will have it done and when they will have it done and definitely as mining companies, I don’t think anybody will say no. So we will wait for the Minister to send us the modalities and then we will take it from there.”

Mr. Nantogmah further expressed confidence in the mining companies in the country on their willingness to be transparent as possible to facilitate the audit.

“Well I don’t think we have to give any advice because mining companies tend to be transparent in matters like this; they work with the GRA and all those companies so it will be a routine matter for them to work with government to be sure that the amounts they are declaring are accurate”.

He added, “So it won’t be anything special because a lot of the time, we are transparent so we welcome this move by the ministry and I don’t think any of our members will stand in the way of the ministry”.

President Nana Akufo-Addo recently revealed that, about $5 billion dollars were unaccounted for in gold exports from Ghana to the United Arab Emirates.

In September 2017, it emerged that the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), at the time, could not trace most of the companies involved in the export of $2.3 billion worth of gold in 2016, that did not result in the repatriation of foreign currency.

Indications were that the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service had begun a probe into the matter which is said to involve about 145 companies.

The PMMC is mandated to oversee the export of gold from the small-scale mining sector, and the law requires at least 80 percent of foreign currency earned from exports to be repatriated into the country.

It however appears it has fallen short in its mandate to ensure the accuracy of revenue generated.

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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Chamber of mines supports auditing of mining companies appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The move, according to the ministry is to ensure that revenue received by government from the country’s mining industry is accurate.

This follows a recent disclosure of undervalued revenue received from gold export to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Speaking to journalists, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu maintained the move will block all revenue leakages in the export of gold and other commodities.

“As governments, we have been short changed for a long time in the history of a country that is involved in mining, what the ministry in collaboration with government seeks to do now is to introduce what we call an operational audit of mining firms and this is going to be across all mining companies that are going to work in this country.”

He added that it is important for the mining companies to be cooperative in the rolling out of the audit in order to achieve the best results, “We will introduce an operational audit that will determine that the royalties, the tax regimes and all the other benefits in terms of what comes to government are actual. We feel strongly that government’s take in terms of our royalties and our benefits are being paid and not properly reported and so most of these companies, of course as you know, are listed and so if they are listed, we expect them to be very open to us when we commence this operational audit.”

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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Lands Ministry to audit exports of mining firms appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, their grievances cannot be resolved through protests but amicably through negotiation with the management of the company.

[contextly_sidebar id=”99XvL2c9UvI8Ss35s75ud1EucSyfDp7b”]Speaking on , Mr. Koletey revealed that an earlier planned meeting between the two parties did not take place after management of the company declined to attend.

He said the management’s stance must not encourage workers to stage protests over the matter, but follow due procedure.

“The Union informed us that there were thorny issues that were not raised so we wrote back to management requesting that they go back to the union to iron out their differences. When we saw that that was not done, we wrote back to request the parties to come for us to engage them, which we were anticipating that last Tuesday we will meet for a discussion on the union. The union representatives were there but management declined,” he said.

“The way forward is an engagement. The Union and management have to still come to the table for a discussion for us to reach a consensus. It is not a matter of threatening words, it is not a matter of demonstration, you still have to come to the negation table,” he added.

There is an ensuing impasse between management and staff of Goldfields Ghana Mine, as the company says it is changing its business module, and will be forced to lay off some workers.

Goldfields Ghana Limited told Citi Business News this week, that it will lay off about 1,500 workers this month, as part of measures to change its business model, and make the company profitable due to the relatively short lifespan of the mine.

But the Deputy General Secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers Union, Abdul Moomin Gbana, said the reasons given by Goldfields was inconsistent with the facts on the ground.

“Goldfields claims the life of the mine is 5 to 6 years, and based on the limited time, they cannot invest in mining fleet… It can actually run for a number of years and you don’t necessarily need to replace the fleets that Goldfields claims it wants to do. Records available to us indicates that, contrary to their claim of the life of the mine of 5-6 years, they have over 15 years of mine and so the question is, if your choice of contract mining is based on a limited life of mine and your own website projects 15 years, then, the question is, who are you misleading,” he said.

The workers have since petitioned parliament to look into the matter, but Mr. Kolotey believes they must still engage his office to amicably resolve the matter.

He noted that the workers can proceed to the National Labour Commission if they are still dissatisfied with the outcome of the expected negotiation.

“Where you cannot agree between the two, the law provides that you go to the National Labour Commission which is an independent body to look at the issue and bring finality to the matter,” he said.

Meanwhile, an Industrial Relations Expert, Kofi Davor, has suggested that workers of Goldfields Ghana can proceed to court if they feel dissatisfied about results from the various labour arbitrations on their impasse with the management of the company.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citfimonline.com/Ghana

The post Negotiation, not protests will resolve Goldfields impasse – Chief Labour Officer appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The retrenchment is expected to affect most of its miners at the Tarkwa mine.

Citi Business News has gathered that the layoffs will take effect this month December, 2017.

Goldfields has told Citi Business News it had to undertake the layoffs due to the current lifespan of the mine which stands at between five and six years, and cannot purchase a new fleet because of the short payback period.

This is the second time in three years that the mining firm has embarked on such a massive retrenchment exercise.

In 2014 it laid off about 400 of its workforce over similar concerns.

Goldfields reacts

Goldfields Ghana’s Vice President and Head of Corporate Affairs Mr. David Johnson, confirming the retrenchment exercise to Citi Business News, explained that the company has changed its mining model at the mine from owner mining operations to contractor operations, because it will operate at a loss if it goes on with its previous model.

”We are changing our business model from an owner binder to the contract binder, previously Goldfields acquired and maintained the mining fleets. Now what we are doing right now in 2017, our mining fleet has changed and will need to be replaced now looking at the types of mines that we have which is five to six years of active mining, if we were to pump that money into fleet replacement we will not actually be able to recruit that money back because we are talking of a huge capital investment here.

So now we have to look at our options. You have a contracted miner on the side who has fleets already and that are new and can be more efficient so that has actually influenced decision, the fact that we have an engine mining fleet and also a relatively limited life supply”.

According to Mr. Johnson the retrenchment will affect a number of its departments.

”Our mining department and our HME which is the Heavy Mining Equipment provides that we maintain our fleet, those aspects of our business are being given to our contractors and so the workers who work in these various departments, most of them would be retrenched,” he said.

Sacked workers to be reemployed

He however adds that majority of the workers that will be laid off will be reemployed by the contractor who will take over mining activities of the mine.

”It’s important to add however that we have done a similar exercise a year ago where over eighty percent of the retrenched workers were actually absorbed by the contractor, so it’s not the case that you leave your employees and that is the end of the story, we actually engaged the contactors to ensure that as many people as possible are reengaged by the contractors”.

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By:  Vivian Kai Lokko/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Goldfields to lay off 1,500 workers appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.