Steve Manteaw Urges Passage of Minerals Revenue Management Law
Policy analyst and natural resource governance advocate, Dr. Steve Asare Manteaw, has urged the government to pass a dedicated Minerals Revenue Management Framework to ensure prudent and strategic use of Ghana’s gold revenues.
According to him, the proposed legislation would channel part of the windfall from gold into supporting domestic production while strengthening the Bank of Ghana’s capacity to intervene effectively in the foreign exchange market. “I strongly urge government to consider passing a mineral revenue management framework to direct some of the windfall from gold to support domestic production and to smoothen out BoG’s intervention in the forex market,” Dr. Manteaw stated.
He explained that such a framework would help insulate the economy from the boom-and-bust cycles associated with global commodity price fluctuations. Drawing comparisons with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), Dr. Manteaw noted that while oil and gas revenues are governed by a clear legal structure, gold revenues are largely paid into the Consolidated Fund under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
“This will help sustain the forex stability we currently enjoy. Better still, we may want to harmonize the proposed mineral revenue management framework with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to create a common natural resource revenue management framework,” he added.
Dr. Manteaw argued that the absence of stabilisation and heritage funds for minerals exposes the budget to volatility and undermines inter-generational equity. He also called for a PIAC-type oversight body to enhance transparency and accountability in mineral revenue management, stressing that a structured framework would ensure Ghana’s mineral wealth delivers lasting national development benefits.
