President Akufo-Addo has said the Obuasi gold mine owned by AngloGold Ashanti had made people outside the country very rich, but questioned why Obuasi did not look like a place where so much money had been made.
“It is my hope that this time around, the development of Obuasi will reflect the wealth its soil produces,” the president said of the mine’s reopening.
He questioned why communities were so poor and said, “we must move to change the situation”.
“I’m certain that a lot more can be done to transform the communities if government and mining companies collaborate,” he added.
He revealed that Ghana had taken the decision to exploit its bauxite, had established a public aluminium corporation covering the full value chain of the country’s bauxite resources and was looking to do the same in iron-ore.
Lithium, which is being used in the world’s emerging green economy, is also present in commercial quantities in Ghana, he said.
“We hope to establish an equitable balance between our needs and the needs of the investor community to produce a win-win for all stakeholders,” he said, adding that Africa had made the world rich and it was now time to make Africa prosperous and to enable its people to attain a decent standard of living.
“The people of Africa do not have to be poor for others to be rich,” he said, adding that technology had made it possible to reinforce prosperity for all the people of the world.
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engineeringnews.co.za
