Ghana is not shutting its doors to foreign investors, it’s simply pushing for fairer, more balanced partnerships in the mining sector. That’s the message from Isaac Andrews Tandoh, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, who has rejected claims that Ghana is veering toward nationalisation following the government’s decision not to renew the mining lease of Gold Fields Ghana for the Damang Mine.
“Genuine investors are not afraid of fairness. They are afraid of instability. We are offering structure, fairness, and a clear plan for growth,” Tandoh said in an interview on Joy News. “We’re not saying don’t come. We’re saying, let’s do fair business.”
He explained that while Ghana welcomes foreign capital, the country can no longer sustain mineral development agreements that were designed decades ago and fail to deliver sufficient value to local communities.
“If you’ve been given a lease for 30 years and you’ve worked through the 30 years, it cannot be business as usual,” he said. “Those neo-colonial types of agreements cannot continue.”
According to Tandoh, the shift in approach is part of a deliberate strategy to ensure that Ghana’s natural resources benefit Ghanaians more directly, not a reactionary or isolationist move.
“This is about Ghana,” he stated. “This is about ensuring our infrastructure, our communities, and our people benefit from what is under their feet.”
He also emphasized that the Minerals Commission is actively reviewing existing contracts and leases to align them with the country’s development goals. “We are evaluating everything. We are protecting Ghana’s future,” he said.
Addressing the elephant in the room, fears of nationalisation, Tandoh was direct: “There hasn’t been a policy for nationalisation. We are not Burkina Faso. We are not Mali. But we are pushing for indigenisation.”
For him, it’s not about pushing investors out; it’s about drawing the line where fairness begins. “This is not abrupt. This is deliberate. It is strategic. And above all, it is for Ghanaians.”
