Ghana to establish aluminium industry-Bawumia

 

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has signalled government’s moves to explore Ghana’s vast bauxite deposit by setting up an integrated aluminium industry, to help add value to its untapped bauxite reserves for economic growth.

 

He said in line with this a legal framework for the establishment of an Integrated Bauxite Authority would be put before Parliament.

 

Ghana has one of the richest bauxite deposits in the world – the potential to produce 10 million metric tons of alumina annually, a production trend that could last over 50 years.

 

The Vice President said value addition was a potential for job creation, and tied in with the Ghana beyond Aid programme, adding “relying on unprocessed mineral resources and raw agricultural products, is making the economy vulnerable and dependent to current global commodity trends,” he added.

 

He was speaking at this year’s National Policy Summit on the Economy underway in Kumasi. “Assessing the Growth, Jobs and Prosperity Agenda”, was the theme.

 

He said the step was central to stabilizing the macro-economy and that Ghana, was moving steadily to setting up the integrated aluminium industry.

 

The 2018 National Policy Summit is a major flagship programme of the Ministry of Information and supported by the Universal Merchant Bank (UMB).

 

It brought together policy makers, business leaders, chiefs, civil society organizations and other key stakeholders.

 

The two-day event, the first to be held outside Accra, aimed among others to create a platform for policy dialogue among the participants.

 

Source: GNA