Guest Blogger: Books win corruption fight in Ghana

By: Samson Lardy Anyenini

Government has put ¢12.2 billion in our pockets between 2017 and now. Never mind that this, in fact, is money we gave to government or loans taken on account of our tax. The finance minister just explained this was money spent on various projects to benefit citizens. More than this amount, some ¢13 billion, was spent on the banking sector clean-up. I hope I understood the minister.

This could have been avoided if people blew the whistle on the alleged regulatory breaches that officers of the central bank superintended to cost the taxpayer so much. Imagine if citizens were educated the Whistleblowers law guarantees them 10% of the money recovered or substantial financial reward upon the successful prosecution of corrupt people and public officers fleecing the country?

We have spent a couple of years begging China for $2 billion we will pay for. This brings excitement that it will be used to transform Ghana’s infrastructure. But it is estimated that the country loses $3 billion each year to grand corruption – that’s twice the aid money we get.  So this country can do far better and without borrowing. Citizens in Tamale were extremely excited when the NCCE took a rare whistleblowing awareness campaign to them this week.

They had their suspicion that very little is heard of this law because as they say “if you want to hide something from the Ghanaian put it in a book. This law establishes 18 different avenues including EOCO, BNI, the police, CHRAJ, heads of institutions, religious leaders, chiefs and district assemblies for citizens to report impropriety and corruption. They were not excited when I disclosed that the 2006 law requires the establishment of a Whistleblowers Reward Fund which has not been put in place.

It is out of this fund that one may get the 10% reward and refund of any expenses he makes in exposing corruption. If you blew the whistle and got victimised, harassed, mistreated or dismissed at work, you simply report to CHRAJ and you will get justice, get your job back, compensated and you and your family will receive state protection if your security is threatened. Yes, after two decades of the campaign, the RTI law was passed but curiously suspended to commence operation next year.

This is another book that wins the corruption fight. But a couple of months to 2020 and there is no word about the implementing agency – the RTI Commission established by the law, and almost all items on a roadmap for a smooth take-off have been missed. Ghana has many fine anti-corruption laws including one that has no history of application even though it recovers three times the money stolen from the state plus a possible 10 years in jail – the Government Contracts (Protection) Act, 1979.

The procurement law and another recent book, the Special Prosecutor’s law have all won the corruption fight but on paper. Laws don’t work by themselves. Enough of the book corruption victories!  Enough of the grandstanding lip service fight against the nation-wrecking graft and sleaze?

Experts make recommendations for the sustainable development of mining communities

Experts in the extractive sector have made recommendations for the sustainable development of local communities that play host to mining activities in Ghana.

Government of Ghana must:

        I.            Implement fully the 2014 Minerals and Mining Policy of Ghana, and the 2016 Minerals Development Fund Act(MDF). 

    II.            Develop a long-term plan integrating mining into a wider vision of a diversified high-income, high-wage economy.  

 III.            Make Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) a mandatory, legally binding obligation for all large-scale mining operations.

 IV.            Re-orient CBAs towards building local governance capacity rather than provision of public infrastructure and public services. 

    V.            Implement fully the 2016 Minerals Develop Fund (MDF), especially the 20% allocated to the Community Development Scheme (CDS).

 VI.            Track MDF funding to ensure the proper usage of funds. Institute periodic audits of all MDF channels and beneficiaries including District Assemblies and traditional authorities.

VII.            Strengthen the mining fiscal regime (royalties and taxes).

VIII.            Strengthen environmental regulations; ensure that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is well resourced; adopt a continual monitoring system for environmental indicators at all mine sites.

 IX.            Develop a national policy and strategy to ensure that women participate in and benefit from mining.

    X.            Close skills/training gap in mining. Mining sector should be seen as a vehicle for technology, skill, and management transfer (from multinationals) for the long-term goal of building local capacity. 

 XI.            Address CBA governance deficits – enhance responsibility, accountability and transparency of CBAs, and enhance community representation and participation in CBA decision-making.

XII.            Communities should participate in CBAs with help from knowledgeable officials from the national/local governments through deliberate and ongoing consultation to identify priorities that are in the common interest and part of a long-term development plan.

XIII.            Adopt international best practices by providing guidelines for mandatory CBAs, obtaining Free and Prior Informed Consent of communities for projects, and for community-oriented independent M&E.

XIV.            Create a socioeconomic baseline for M&E in each community to see how mining is affecting the general welfare.

XV.            M&E frameworks for CBAs should include both quantitative and qualitative data, and incorporate participatory methods.

XVI.            Clear and publicly available indicators and targets are a must to assess and demonstrate progress.

XVII.            All CBA projects should undergo due diligence regarding procurement and hiring.

XVIII.            Build local capacity for M&E by neutral 3^rd parties trusted by the community and paid out of general funds, rather than the mining co., to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. 

XIX.            Give mining communities better access to legal representation to defend their rights.

The experts including Dr. James Busumtwi-Sam (Associate Professor of Political Science at Simon Fraser University), Dr. Steve Manteaw (Co-chair, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative-EITI), Dr. Tony Aubynn (Former CEO of the Minerals Commission, President & Chief Policy Analyst, Africa Institute for Extractive Industries) and Mr. Albert Buer (GSBPLs Communities Supt., Golden Star Resources Ltd) made these recommendations at a multi-stakeholder forum organized by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and the Canadian High Commission at the Alisa Hotel on November 20, 2019 on the topic: ‘Mining Social License and the Community Benefits Agreements Approach: What Prospects for Ghana’. 

High Commissioner of Canada to Ghana, Sabine Nolke

The programme was moderated by Nick Opoku, a communications consultant.

 

Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs)

Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) are becoming increasingly popular within the mining sector around the world. They provide opportunities for ensuring that mining contributes to the sustainable development of local communities that play host to mining activities. CBAs typically contain undertakings regarding the socio-economic contributions that a project will make to the community. Issues addressed through CBAs include employment opportunities for members of the community, educational scholarship, apprenticeship and technical training programmes for members of the community, support programmes for micro enterprises within the community, financial and other forms of contributory support for infrastructural development such as health, roads, power, water and sanitation. 

In some countries such as Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Nigeria, CBAs are required by law, but in Ghana they are voluntary. In South Sudan, Section 80(1)(c) of the 2012 Mining Act explicitly regards the conclusion of a CBA between a large-scale mining license title holder and a community as a precondition to the commencement of mining operations. It is subject to the approval of the Minister of Mines and once approved, is regarded as a public document accessible to the public. Also, in Nigeria, the conclusion of a CBA in accordance with the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007 is a pre-requisite for the commencement of mining operations by a license holder.

Stats on mining in Ghana

-          Ghana has substantial mineral resources.  Gold, diamonds, manganese, and bauxite are the major minerals mined. Also, unexploited deposits of iron ore, copper, chrome, nickel, limestone, quartz, and mica.

-          Mining in Ghana was valued at US$38.65 billion in 2014. Its contribution to GDP increased from 2% in 1991 to 9.6% in 2015. 

-          Minerals are the leading merchandise export, accounting for 45.5% of the total in 2016, compared with 22.3% for cocoa, and 12.5% for crude oil.

-          Export of gold (96.5% in 2016) is the largest share of mineral exports. 

-          Despite being a major source of export earnings and a significant contributor to GDP, mining (large scale) does not contribute significantly to employment in Ghana: Agric- (44.7%); Services (40.9%); Industry (13.4%); Mining (-1%)

-          An estimated 10,503 people (-1% ) were formally employed in large-scale mining as of 2017 (GCM 2018). Indicative of the capital-intensive nature of large-scale mining. 

-          About 20 large-scale mining companies with investment from Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United States dominate the sector with lesser investors from the UK, Norway, and China.

Credit: Additional files from Dr. James Busumtwi-Sam

Singapore’s Senior Minister shares strategies for Africa’s transformation

Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies of the Republic of Singapore has shared some four strategies for Africa’s transformation.

African governments must (i) invest more in social foundations like health and education (ii) focus on specialization as continental free trade kicks in; (iii) maximize coherence and effectiveness; and (iv) think in the long-term to maximize the benefits of the global financial system.

Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam made these remarks when he addressed diplomats, captains of industry and investors at the Enterprise Singapore Ghana Singapore Business Forum held at the Marriot Hotel in Accra on November 7, 2019.

Invest more in social foundations

Mr. Shanmugaratnam said any country which is serious about holistic development must invest more in social foundations such as education, health and housing. According to him, African governments must make efforts towards raising the quality of education which involves paying teachers well amongst others. He said it is crucial to invest in teachers because they are at the heart of quality education. ‘If you don’t succeed in raising the quality of education, you won’t succeed at anything. Invest in teachers, pay them well. Good teachers add great value.  Investing in teachers is the foundation of every good education system’. The Coordinating Minister for Social Policies also noted that investing in healthcare is crucial to development. He urged African governments to focus on improving maternal health and child health. Mr. Shanmugaratnam added that the provision of decent housing cannot be ignored. ‘Deal with housing’, he said. Singapore focused on housing as part of efforts to invest in its social foundations. ‘Mixing people socially in neighbourhoods leads to inclusive growth’, the minister said.

African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is to amongst others create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments and expand intra African trade through better harmonization and coordination of trade liberalization. The AfCFTA with its headquarters coming to Ghana, is set to cover a market of 1.2 billion people at an estimated GDP of $3 billion across the 54-member states of the African Union.

Sharing his thoughts on the AfCFTA, Singapore’s Senior Minister said ‘there is increasing protectionism across the world but Africa is singing a different tune. Africa must spread its economic openness by strongly showcasing specialization along the production value chain. ‘Regionalization gives a special way to specialize. We have to think of free trade as way of building our capabilities. Countries can feed into each other’s specialty. Africa has to use the AfCFTA to develop skill. It has to be fundamentally about regional supply base. It should be a production base not a consumption base.’

According to UN forecasts, the continent is expected to double its population by 2050, from 1 billion to nearly 2.5 billion. It is also projected that in the next decade, Africa will have the largest working age population in the world, larger than China and India with about 1.1 billion people of working age population of between 15 and 64 years.

Mr. Shanmugaranum argued that in order to build economic resilience and create job opportunities for their increasing youth population, there must be stronger connectivity and economic interaction among developing regions, especially between Africa and Asia which share demographic similarities.

Conversation with Senior Minister Tharman

Singapore’s interest in Ghana and Africa

The Senior Minister indicated that Singapore is the eighth largest foreign investor in Africa. In 2018, Singapore invested about $90 billion in the continent.

He said there is a significant interest by Singapore businesses in Africa which needs to be scaled up. ‘We need to take practical steps to spur this collaboration with more bilateral investment treaties that provide some assurance to investors’. The Minister noted that the unique capabilities of Singapore companies would be a value-add to the region’s developments. He said while Ghana serves as a gateway for international companies to enter the West Africa region, West African companies could look to Singapore as a gateway to growing Asia markets.

The Ghana Singapore Business Forum was organized by Enterprise Singapore, a statutory board under Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry championing enterprise development and developing Singapore as a leading global trading hub.

The event brought together companies from Ghana and Singapore to network and initiate some business discussions.

There was a short MOU exchange ceremony which saw some noteworthy agreements between Ghanaian and Singaporean companies bordering on security, oil and gas being exchanged.

The event was facilitated by Ms Mary Boakye, Senior Advisor at Dentons and Managing Director of Oriol Associates and Nick Opoku, a communications consultant.

Nick Opoku

Credit: Additional files from afdb.org