Ghana’s mining sector to see consistent growth

Ghana’s mining sector holds promise for growth. The sector holds great potential, the first quarter 2010 Ghana Mining Report by the research firm, Research and Markets has said.

The political stability in the country and the clear regulatory standards governing the industry have been noted as factors that would engender this growth.

According to the report, it is expected that the value of the mining industry in Ghana will increase form $0.64 billion in 2009 to $1.68 billion in 2014 buoyed mainly by the strong price of gold.

Ghana is the second largest producer of gold in Africa after South Africa and it is among the world’s five top producers of manganese ore. The country also produces significant quantities of bauxite and diamond.

Gold mining contributes about 90% of the country’s overall mining revenue.

According to the Bank of Ghana, the exports value of gold was US$ 2.6 billion, compared to US$2.2 billion in 2008.

The authors of the report took into consideration, data from local statistics agencies and associations, drew on the expertise of the UN’s Industrial Commodity Statistics Database, the US Geological Survey and the World Bureau of Metal Statistics and then used their own proprietary econometric model to do the forecast.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi