GHANA is the latest mineral-rich African nation seeking to extract more revenue from mining activities taking place in its borders after its deputy finance minister said he wanted to “ensure compliance” by scrutinising existing contracts.
This follows in the footsteps of several other countries, most notably Tanzania which last year froze exports by gold producer Acacia Mining, claiming it was owed billions of dollars in unpaid tax, interest and penalties. Tanzania also stopped a parcel of diamonds that UK-listed Petra Diamonds wanted to export.
“Our objective is to see where there are gaps so we can take measures to plug them,” said Kwaku Kwarteng in an interview with Bloomberg News earlier this week. “We hold the contracts and agreements sacrosanct, but we also consider that we are entitled to review agreements if situations have arisen, or things have happened that clearly make the case for a review,” he told the newswire service.
