Although the government touts a major headway in its mining fiscal regime following the amendments of the Minerals and Mining Act, a sharp critique has emerged from Her Ladyship, Sophia Akuffo, over what she describes as a contradictory move.
For the former Chief Justice of Ghana, the government’s amendment to the fiscal regime in the mining sector risks undermining the very gains it seeks to achieve.
Speaking as a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs, the former Chief Justice did not mince words. The government’s decision to increase mining royalties, which is widely seen as an attempt to secure a greater share of value from Ghana’s mineral wealth, has been paired with a simultaneous reduction in the Growth and Sustainability Levy from 3% to 1%.
To her, the logic simply does not add up since it is self-defeating.
“Why did the government increase royalties ostensibly to capture greater value from Ghana’s mineral wealth, only to simultaneously dilute that gain through tax concessions? It’s like taking something from your left-hand pocket and putting it in your right-hand pocket,” she explained.
“It’s what, when we were young, we called Kwaku Ananse Mathematics,” a popular Ghanaian expression often used to describe clever but ultimately meaningless calculations.
Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, she expressed a deeper concern about policy coherence. Mining, one of Ghana’s most critical revenue anchors, demands a fiscal framework that is not only robust but consistent.
Increasing royalties signals a tougher stance, an attempt by the state to claim a fairer share of profits from multinational extractive firms. But slashing a key levy meant to support national development virtually erodes or cancels out the gains made in the royalties.
“The IEA views the reduction as a step that weakens the objective of maximising national benefits from the natural resources sector. Fiscal policy in the mining sector must be coherent. It must be predictable. And it must be aligned to a long-term national interest, not reactive concessions to investor pressure,” the IEA Fellow argued.
This, many analysts believe, has implications for ordinary Ghanaians as the implications go beyond abstract fiscal debates.
Revenues from mining are expected to fund roads, schools, healthcare, and long-term infrastructure. When policy appears to give with one hand and take away with the other, it raises a pressing question: is the country truly maximising the value of its natural resources?
While governments across resource-rich economies walk a tightrope between attracting investment and securing national interest, Her Ladyship Sophia Akuffo warns against reactive policymaking driven by pressure rather than principle.
For her, it is evident Ghana wants more from its gold, bauxite, and other mineral resources. However, if the mechanisms designed to extract that value are diluted through parallel concessions, the net benefit may be negligible.
