The ‘new extractivism’ in Ghana: A critical review of its development prospects

Ayelazuno, Jasper Abembia

doi:10.1016/j.exis.2014.04.008

Cited by 34 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Nonetheless, a lingering grievance transcends both the public and scholarly discourse suggesting that the Ghanaian government, through ineffective mining policies, has betrayed artisanal and informal mining citizens and robbed them of their right to pursue sustainable livelihoods and development. In the age of ''new extractivism" through large-scale, corporal mining (Ayelazuno, 2014), the state allegedly failed to provide an appropriate regulatory apparatus to support artisanal gold diggers desperately needing assistance. Ghana's government is accused of having repeatedly ignored the needs of its own small-scale mining operators .…”

Section: The Persistent Informality In Ghana's Gold Mining Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting Discourses of Vilification and the Taming of Unruly Mining Landscapes in Ghana

Tschakert

2016

World Development

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This paper explores the expulsion of >4,500 Chinese diggers and operators from Ghana's central gold mining areas during a series of raids and swoops enacted through military, immigration, and police and intelligence forces in 2013, arguably to conceal the state's own failure to sanitize and revitalize a stagnant and neglected artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASM) sector. I draw upon feminist social theory and political ecology to unravel processes of social exclusion that legitimated violent action against a social group rendered both invisible and wholly othered within a remarkably short period of time. The discursive production of less-than-human mining subjects-first the Ghanaian galamsey miners, then the Chinese operators-enables a highly politicized landscapes of power characterized by authoritative ordering of unruly mining spaces. The ''making" of demonized, unworthy Chinese miners epitomized the forceful disciplining of these spaces in the absence of more inclusive and genuine development policies. Observed processes of subject-making seem to propagate the sector's informality and perpetuate the distance from the state's idealized depiction of a responsible modern miner. The case study demonstrates that exclusion and exploitation of those targeted as not belonging nourishes elite capture and pervasive rent-seeking. Understanding the processes of subjection at work further suggests that better regulation of ASM in itself will be insufficient to move beyond the current impasse and support true partnerships and genuine politics of recognition and belonging.

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Section: The Persistent Informality In Ghana's Gold Mining Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting Discourses of Vilification and the Taming of Unruly Mining Landscapes in Ghana

Tschakert

2016

World Development

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“…In the quest to maximize benefits from oil and gas resources for Ghanaian citizens, the government embarked on policy and legislative development from the moment oil and gas were discovered, in 2007. Taking lessons from the mining and forestry sectors, where fiscal benefits had eluded the citizens of Ghana (Akabzaa et al 2007;Ayelazuno 2014b;Ayine 2001), the state started to marshal policies to avert the paradox of plenty. Subsequently, a coherent policy with the following objectives was developed to regulate the nascent oil and gas industry (Ministry of Energy 2009):…”

Section: Policy Development Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Content Law and Practice

Ackah¹,

Mohammed²

2020

Mining for Change

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Local content and local participation policy and legislation have come to stay in Ghana’s oil and gas industry. The policy and legislation have been described largely as adequate, promising, and necessary to promote local content and local participation in the oil and gas industry. Implementation of the policy and legislation has, however, produced mixed results, according to industry stakeholders and researchers. Evidence suggests some level of compliance by international oil companies to implement the policy and legislation on local content. Some Ghanaian companies have been awarded contracts to provide essential services and goods to these international oil companies during exploration and production. Several factors, however, militate against effective implementation of the policy and legislation. Notable among these are the low capacity of local firms, discrimination against local firms by international oil companies through vertical integration, and the weak regulatory capacity of the Petroleum Commission to enforce local content implementation.

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“…This has negative consequences for livelihoods of the expropriated. Indeed, it has been noted that despite the macroeconomic benefits of mining, the sector has generally failed to reduce poverty and mitigate the associated pressures of displacement and resettlement, job loss and environmental pollution in rural communities and around operations (Hilson 2004;Ayelazuno 2014). The result of this is increased social conflict as local communities express their frustration over the negative effects of the industry .…”

Section: Mining and Corporate Social Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of community perceptions, common resources and compensation practices in mining: the case of Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd at Ahafo

Bugri

Kumi²

2018

International Journal of the Commons

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Abstract:A critical issue confronting the mining industry and communities in Ghana is compensation for loss of land rights in mining activities. The 1992 Constitution and the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) both require compensation for the expropriated to be fair, adequate and promptly paid. However, fairness, adequacy and promptness are normative value judgments predicated on stakeholders' perceptions. This makes controversies over compensation issues inevitable and in mining communities these are rife because of increased competition between mines and communities for land and the legal provision that the payment of compensation rests with mining companies negotiating with the expropriated. Using Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd at Ahafo, we analyzed data from a sample of 120 stakeholders in four mining communities which revealed a wide divergence between communities' perceptions and mining company compensation practices, and weak enforcement of mining legislation. Communities were also not well resourced to negotiate for compensation with the transnational corporation. Also, we argue that the principles applied in compensation assessment as provided by law, especially in the case of common resources, contribute to unfairness and inadequacy in compensation for the expropriated. We conclude that this imbalance has negative implications for community-mining company relations and threatens sustainable mining operations. We therefore recommend the rigorous enforcement of legislation, introduction of appropriate governmental and mining company initiatives in building capacities of communities for improved negotiations for compensation, legal recognition of common resources 2 John Tiah Bugri and Samuel Kumi as valuable community assets for compensation, the application of the investment approach to compensation valuation and improved CSR packages by mines as means of bridging the gap between communities' perceptions and compensation practices and ensuring improved company-community relations in the mining industry.

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The ‘new extractivism’ in Ghana: A critical review of its development prospects

Cited by 34 publications

References 41 publications

Shifting Discourses of Vilification and the Taming of Unruly Mining Landscapes in Ghana

Shifting Discourses of Vilification and the Taming of Unruly Mining Landscapes in Ghana

Local Content Law and Practice

Dynamics of community perceptions, common resources and compensation practices in mining: the case of Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd at Ahafo

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