A former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has described as troubling the recent release of the Global Mining Investment Attractiveness Index, which reveals a decline in Ghana’s position, dropping seven places from 46th in 2024, to 53rd in 2025, in the global ranking of mining investment destinations.
He said more concerning was the fact that only 68 countries were assessed in 2025, compared with 82 in 2024, when Ghana held the 46th position.
In a statement on the ranking, Mr Jinapor stressed that the latest ranking, which positioned Ghana behind other African countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Morocco and Botswana, was an indication of a relative decline in the country’s attractiveness to mining investors.
“This development is concerning for many stakeholders in the mining industry, and as the immediate past minister responsible for the mining sector, this decline constitutes a serious challenge to Ghana’s competitiveness and its ability to attract long-term investment in the sector.
“This trend is particularly troubling given the central role of the mining sector in Ghana’s economy.
For decades, it has been a cornerstone of national development, contributing substantially to export earnings, foreign exchange inflows, fiscal revenues, employment, and broader economic growth.
“The Global Mining Investment Attractiveness ranks jurisdictions according to the extent that public policy factors encourage or discourage mining investment.
Ghana’s decline in this ranking, therefore, reflects a negative perception of Ghana’s public policy environment affecting mining exploration and investment.
“This has the potential to erode all the gains made during the past eight years,” the former Lands and Natural Resources Minister stated.
Previous gains
Mr Jinapor said during the tenure of the previous government, many transformational policies were implemented that positioned Ghana as the mining hub in Africa, and among the best investment destinations on the continent.
These investor-friendly policies that were implemented, he emphasised, made Ghana attractive to mining investment, and was reflective in the number of mines that were under construction as of the end of 2024.
That also resulted in Ghana gaining an additional 12.63 points in investment attractiveness, from 44.35 points in 2023 to 56.98 points in 2024 and helped Ghana to overtake South Africa to become the leading producer of gold on the continent, with gold production hitting a record 4.9 million ounces in 2024 and generating in excess of US$10 billion in export receipts.
Recommendations
To rebuild investor confidence and attract long-term investment, Mr Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Damongo, urged the government to prioritise the development of an effective and simplified mining tax regime, replacing the current complex system to create a more investment-friendly environment.
He also emphasised the need for the government to prioritise exploration, saying, “That is the lifeblood of the industry and that the country risks suffering a huge decline if exploration spend is not prioritised.”
Mr Jinapor also called for the resourcing, retooling and the need to build the capacity of the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) through dedicated funding to undertake exploration or provide incentives to enable GGSA to enter into public-private partnerships to undertake comprehensive geological investigations.
Additionally, he called on the government to develop a comprehensive strategy to integrate the mining sector with downstream industries, supported by regulatory certainty and fit-for-purpose infrastructure.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh