The leader of the New Force, Nana Kwame Bediako, also known as Cheddar, says that the country’s development and national needs should be based on returns from its natural resources.
According to Mr. Bediako, simply knowing about a resource is not enough but Ghanaians must also know how that resource can benefit the country.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show, he said, “It’s not about finding out that we have resources, but somebody is taking 90% and we are getting 10% and we don’t even know what that 10% is going into and what benefits.”
Mr. Bediako’s comment comes in the wake of the lithium mining agreement signed between Ghana and Barari DV Limited, in which the royalty rate was set at 10%.
Barari DV Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Limited, has been granted a 15-year mining lease to commence the construction and mining of lithium at Ewoyaa in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region.
However, reacting to the agreement, Chedder said “I don’t think I can leave Ghana and go to China and if they have some mineral, I go and sit with the government and try and do some business and say I am going to take 90%. That is not going to happen anywhere in the world.”
In addition to calling for a more equitable distribution of the country’s natural resources, he also mentioned the creation of petrochemicals as a key initiative.
He noted that petrochemicals can be used to produce products such as fertilisers for farmers and bitumen, which could be used for road construction.
“Those same petrochemicals will help you to advance your power stations where you are going to get more energy to be able to bring your tariffs down. This will make your country friendly and attractive to investors. They will enjoy your incentives but they are going to expand your industrial power and production. So these are the things I’m thinking.”
“What happens when you do such things? Overnight you are creating millions of jobs and you will bring in millions of investors. And this investment will not only be stuck in your country for the next 50 years. It is also going to leave your nation with a skill set which is one thing that we are lacking,” he said.
Background
The government has granted Barari DV Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Limited, a fifteen (15) year Mining Lease to commence the construction and mining of lithium at Ewoyaa in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region.
The lease incorporates new and enhanced terms intended to ensure that the country benefits, optimally from this mineral.
This includes an increase in royalty rate, which has increased from 5% to 10%, State and Ghanaian participation, as well as, value addition to the mineral mined.
The granting of the mining lease follows the completion of prospecting and feasibility studies by the company, as well as a series of negotiations between the government and the company.
The lease covers an area of approximately 42.63 square kilometres and grants the company the exclusive right to work and produce lithium and associated minerals in the area, in accordance with the mining laws of the country.
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