Ghana’s IFS calls for state stakes in mining
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on 3News
Ghana’s Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that the state lost $6.56 billion in potential mining revenue in 2025 and recommends direct stakes in mining operations. Its director Said Boakye wants the measure included in the 2027 budget, according to 3News.
Ghana’s Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) recommends that the government take direct equity stakes in mining companies as part of the 2027 budget. Its executive director, Said Boakye, presented the proposal in Accra in a note entitled “A Reexamination of the Low Government Revenue Mobilization in Ghana”, according to 3News.
The IFS estimates that mines generated $13.40 billion in added value in 2025, compared with $1.60 billion in state revenue, or 11.9%. Between 2019 and 2023, public mining revenue accounted for an average of 15% of the sector’s added value in Ghana, compared with 60.9% in Botswana, where the state participates in joint ventures with private operators, according to the IFS. Said Boakye said the Botswana model enables the state to receive dividends and royalties in addition to corporate tax.
The IFS also estimates that aligning Ghana’s revenue and grants with the regional average of 20.1% of GDP would have brought their amount to 288.26 billion Ghanaian cedis in 2025, or 63.38 billion cedis more than the 224.88 billion actually collected. The 2027 budget is due to be presented on 12 November as part of the programme supported by the International Monetary Fund, 3News reports.
