Ghana’s Minerals Development Fund Act: addressing the needs of mining communities

Abstract

Despite a large mining sector and a well-structured mineral revenue distribution system, mining communities are among the poorest in Ghana. To promote socio-economic development in the mining communities, in 2016, the Parliament of Ghana passed the Minerals Development Fund Act. This article examines the Act’s potential in addressing existing challenges in the allocation and utilisation of mineral royalties in Ghana and its potential in promoting development in Ghana’s mining communities. It shows that the Act missed the opportunity to address misuse of mineral royalties and to encourage local participation and increase transparency and accountability in mineral royalty management.