Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has proposed a clear path to tackling illegal mining and  formalise, incentivise as well as help Ghana’s small-scale miners grow into medium-scale miners.

Speaking during his engagement with the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners in Accra on Thursday, Dr. Bawumia said small-scale miners are not the problem but rather they are part of the solution if properly supported.

He recalled when he introduced the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme and deliberately invited small-scale miners to his office to ensure the policy did not disadvantage them.

“I wanted to make sure that in pursuing this programme, we did it without disadvantage to the small-scale miners,” he stated.

He noted that small-scale miners today produce over 52% of Ghana’s gold, having overtaken large-scale for the first time.

He added that they feed directly into the Gold for Reserves programme that has stabilized the cedi.

The way forward in protecting both the small-scale miners and the integrity of mining, he argued, is to provide these formalised operators with access to affordable finance, modern equipment, geological data, and security of tenure, so they can scale up, employ more people, pay more royalties, and practice more environmentally responsible mining.

This, he said, will reduce the incentive for illegal mining which thrives when youth have no legitimate path into mining.

He added that his 2028 manifesto will focus on practical support for engineers, farmers and miners on the ground stating that political tenure is short and “if you are not prepared to move on day one, you are going to be in trouble”.

To solve the biggest barrier which is lack of capital, Dr. Bawumia reiterated his flagship proposal to establish a Minerals Development Bank.

"This bank will be for small-scale miners to help them access funds for responsible mining equipment.”

"With the right tools, our miners can work efficiently and safely, building wealth for themselves and their communities without compromising the environment,” he explained.

Dr. Bawumia also pointed out  that the bank will be established in collaboration with relevant State institutions like the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), the Bank of Ghana and the private sector.

"We want to establish a Minerals Development Bank to finance viable local mineral projects and to mitigate foreign financing of local mining projects, which leads to heavy smuggling of the produce afterwards.”

He disclosed that, currently, many Ghanaian small-scale miners, due to high capital requirements, are forced to front for foreign nationals, leading to limited ownership and massive smuggling of gold.

The Minerals Development Bank, he emphasised, will assess the viability of their concessions and provide funding that miners can repay with interest as they mine.

"This will allow Ghanaians to own 100% of their concessions."

He linked the bank to other reform proposals including decentralizing the Minerals Commission and EPA to all mining districts, establishing district mining committees including Chiefs to issue temporary licences, involving the Geological Survey Department to map where gold is to stop “trial and error” mining that destroys the environment and setting up a plant pool and common-user gold processing units.