Expert petitions Council of State over proposed Gold Fields lease renewal rejection

A public financial management expert has petitioned the Council of State to intervene in the debate over the proposed non-renewal of Gold Fields Ghana Limited’s mining lease in Tarkwa, warning that such a move could undermine Ghanaian businesses operating within the mining value chain.

Derrick Opare Asamoah, in a petition submitted on July 1, 2026, argued that rejecting the company’s lease renewal application could have unintended consequences for local enterprises that depend on the Tarkwa mine for business opportunities.

The petition follows calls by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) for the government to reject Gold Fields Ghana’s application when its current concession expires in April 2027, with the argument that Ghana should take greater control of its mineral resources to maximise national benefits.

However, Mr Asamoah described an outright rejection of the lease renewal as a “dangerously self-defeating” approach, arguing that Ghana currently lacks the technical and financial capacity to independently operate a mine of Tarkwa’s scale.

“To understand why, we must examine what the Tarkwa mine represents and what is actually at stake,” he stated in the petition.

The Tarkwa mine, one of Africa’s largest open-pit gold mining operations, produces approximately 500,000 ounces of gold annually.

According to the petition, Ghana has struggled to raise significant capital for mineral exploration and has no local company with experience operating a mining project of such technical complexity and scale.

Mr Asamoah warned that ending Gold Fields’ operations could affect a wide network of Ghanaian businesses that have developed around the mine.

He cited Engineers and Planners, a Ghanaian-owned company that has become one of the country’s leading mining contractors, and ZEN Petroleum Holdings, a company listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange with business ties to Gold Fields, as examples of local enterprises benefiting from the mining operation.

He added that nearly 100 local vendors depend on the Tarkwa mine, while Gold Fields’ local procurement from Ghanaian-owned businesses has reached 93 per cent over the past five years.

The petition stated that the company had spent more than $4.26 billion locally, including $2.59 billion directly benefiting host communities, while contributing about $3.3 billion through taxes, royalties and dividends to the state.

Mr Asamoah also expressed concern that rejecting the lease renewal could negatively affect Ghana’s reputation as a destination for mining investment.

He referenced Ghana’s decline on the Fraser Institute’s Global Mining Investment Attractiveness Index, moving from 46th out of 82 jurisdictions in 2024 to 53rd out of 68 in 2025, and warned that increased policy uncertainty could discourage foreign investment.

“Arbitrary lease denial, absent any finding of non-compliance by the operator, would accelerate this decline, triggering capital flight and reduced foreign direct investment across the entire mining sector,” the petition stated.

Instead of refusing the renewal, Mr Asamoah recommended a strategic renegotiation with Gold Fields, including increasing Ghana’s ownership stake through the Minerals Income Investment Fund.

He suggested that Ghana could adopt a model similar to Botswana’s partnership arrangement with Debswana, while also establishing a mandatory Mining Community Development Fund financed from mining revenues.

The petition further called for the development of a National Resource Participation Strategy with clear targets for local ownership and participation in the mining industry.

Mr Asamoah stressed that the call for greater Ghanaian ownership of natural resources was not being opposed but should be pursued through strategic negotiations, capacity development and sound legislation.

“We do not oppose greater Ghanaian ownership of our resources. We advocate for it. But the path to ownership lies through negotiation, capacity building, and strategic legislation—not through administrative actions that would collapse the ecosystem we seek to strengthen,” he said.