{"id":203387,"date":"2016-04-01T12:05:10","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T12:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=203387"},"modified":"2016-04-01T12:05:10","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T12:05:10","slug":"pay-attention-to-mining-industry-journalists-told","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=203387","title":{"rendered":"Pay attention to mining industry – Journalists told"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ghana Chamber of Mines has tasked journalists to zealously pay attention to the nation\u2019s mining industry which is making progress in the three regions of the north.<\/p>\n

As a research-based advocacy organization, its Chief Executive Officer, Alhaji Sulemanu Koney, emphasized that media curiosity in the mining industry could deepen social auditing and accountability in that sector.<\/p>\n

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He raised this concern in Tamale at a day\u2019s multi stakeholder interaction which highlighted the mining industry\u2019s contributions to the national economy, opportunities and challenges.<\/p>\n

The media interaction was under the auspices of the Northern Regional Chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) facilitated by the Regional Chairman, Caesar Abagale.<\/p>\n

The event brought together journalists from the three regions of the north, students and law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

As the maiden edition in Northern Ghana, Alhaji Sulemanu Koney maintained that the media watchdog role is critical in the mining sector\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

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He reiterated the Ghana Chamber of Mines’ commitment to promote and protect the interest of all stakeholders in the mining industry.<\/p>\n

Alhaji Sulemanu Koney said\u00a0the mining sector stood as the number one tax payer and the highest contributor to the Ghana Revenue Authority\u2019s domestic revenue mobilization.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the number one tax payer and highest contributor to the GRA\u2019s domestic collections in recent years, the mining sector contributed about GHc 1.24 billion to GRA representing 16.2 of GRA\u2019s total direct taxes in 2014.\u00a0The industry accounted for 31% of the country\u2019s gross export revenue in 2015 reinforcing its position as the leading source for forex and a major contributor to the country\u2019s balance of payments,\u201d Alhaji Sulemana disclosed.<\/p>\n

On the industry\u2019s Foreign Direct Investment, he said, \u201cRecords from the Minerals Commission show that foreign direct investment inflow into the mining sector in 2014 was USD 95 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCumulatively, the investment inflow into the sector from 2000 to 2014 stood above US8 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Alhaji Sulemanu Koney said the Chamber was collaborating with the Minerals Commission and the IFC to support resident Ghanaian companies to produce selected inputs in the mining industry.<\/p>\n

He admonished government to accelerate efforts required to legalize the operations of recognized small scale mining firms operating in the country.<\/p>\n

Commenting on some of the mining industry\u2019s challenges, he cited the upward adjustment of corporate tax rates reviewed from 25% to 35% coupled with royal rate varied from a range of 3% to 6% to a flat rate of 5%.<\/p>\n

Alhaji Sulemanu Koney among several recommendations called for the setting up and revival of industries such as the Bonsa Tyre and the Abosso Glass Factories,\u00a0to provide alternative employment in mining communities.<\/p>\n

He also advocated for the diversification of the minerals sector development and\u00a0other industrial minerals such as iron ore, mica and salt.<\/p>\n

He said the\u00a0relevant laws on illegal mining should be enforced in order to protect the environment, optimize fiscal revenue and enhance the appeal of mining to potential investors.<\/p>\n

Director of External Relations and Communications of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, Ahmed D. Nantogmah, commended the participants for exhibiting their reasonable knowledge in the mining industry.<\/p>\n

He described the regional interaction as the Chamber\u2019s major outreach episode meant to periodically brief the media on unfolding events in the mining industry.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ghana Chamber of Mines has tasked journalists to zealously pay attention to the nation\u2019s mining industry which is making progress in the three regions of the north. As a research-based advocacy organization, its Chief Executive Officer, Alhaji Sulemanu Koney, emphasized that media curiosity in the mining industry could deepen social auditing and accountability in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":203392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=203387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/203392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=203387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=203387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=203387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}