John Dramani Mahama is the President of Ghana
President John Dramani Mahama has indicated that his government will step up efforts to clean rivers and restore lands damaged by mining.
Speaking at the 2026 Local Content Summit in Takoradi, on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, Mahama stated that his administration remains committed to ecological recovery of mining communities.
“Mining must leave our communities better than it found them. We’ll continue the fight against illegal gold mining and work to formalise the artisanal and small-scale mining sectors.
“We’ll increase our efforts to clean our water bodies and reclaim the lands that have been mined out. This is a shared responsibility. The government cannot achieve this transformation alone,” he said.
“To Ghanaian entrepreneurs, the bar for quality and innovation is high. But the opportunity is unprecedented, and so you must prepare, you must build partnerships, and you must compete,” he added.
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Mahama assured international investors of an enabling environment to operate within the country.
“Ghana offers you stability, policy clarity, and long-term partnerships but we expect genuine collaboration that embeds capacity within our economy,” he said.
He also urged regulators and policymakers to ensure enforcement is consistent, transparent, and fair.
“What will be the legacy of our mineral wealth 100 years from now?” Mahama asked addressing the long-term impact of the country’s mineral wealth on citizens.
“If we get this right, our greatest export will not be raw gold, raw bauxite, raw manganese ores, or lithium. Our greatest exports will be Ghanaian talent, Ghanaian technology, Ghanaian enterprise, and a resilient and competitive mining economy,” he added.
“This maiden Mining Local Content Summit must deliver more than just declarations. It must deliver a binding commitment, a shared national pact that makes our mining industry thrive. The work begins now,” he charged participants of the summit.
Mahama assured stakeholders of the mining industry that the event is intended to foster a win-win to partnership for all participants.
SO/VPO
Meanwhile, watch GhanaWeb’s exposé on the ‘dark side of Kayamata’ and its devastating impact
Source:
www.ghanaweb.com
