Hon. George Mireku Duker, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in charge of Mines has touted the “Natural Resources Stakeholders Dialogue” as yet another demonstration of the commitment by government and stakeholders to collectively develop and harness Ghana’s natural resources.
Delivering the opening address on the final day of the two-day conference on Friday, May 12, 2023, Hon. Mireku Duker maintained that the bid to harness the country’s natural resources to expand its contribution to the countries requires an all-hand-on-deck approach.
The Deputy Minister who was taken a leaf from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s address on the opening day of the dialogue laid special emphasis on the fact that the fight by the government to eradicate all forms of illegalities in the mining sector is a collective one that needs the buy-in and active participation of all stakeholders.
“Indeed, the President attached great importance to natural resource governance which is anchored on sustainability and broad based stakeholder collaboration and partnership. This, as he reiterated yesterday informed the organization of the first ever National Dialogue on Small Scale Mining followed by two similar regional ones.
“Since that incipient call for all hands to be on deck, many well-meaning organizations like the Graphic Communications Group have responded favourably. Indeed, he further emphasizes that, without Natural Resources, life is impossible and it is the reason why collective responsibility is needed in fighting the irregularities in the sector,” he said.
He noted with optimism that the forum will result in a revivification of the commitment and dedication to the promotion of responsible natural resource exploitation.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, it is the belief of the President that this dialogue will renew our commitment to promoting sustainable natural resources exploitation for our collective good,” he said.
He also exhorted the minds of the participants of the conference to some key and crucial issues that they must deliberate on and address during the plenary.
Hon. Duker urged that the conversation be steered in a way that focuses on how Ghana and to a larger extent Africa can harness its resources to propel its contribution rate to a level that creates sustainable economic development in the country.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the take away from the President’s speech delivered yesterday was that, even though Africa commands about 30% of the world’s natural resources, its development is ironically the lowest in the world. There is, therefore, the need to find ways of translating this share of the world’s natural resource into sustainable development,” he said.
The Natural Resources Stakeholders Dialogue is a two-day event organized by the Graphic Communications Group Ltd in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to bring together stakeholders and experts under one roof to deliberate on how the country’s natural resources can be harnessed to generate sustainable economic development.
