The institute of Economic affairs (IEA) says the government’s cut in the Growth and Sustainability Levy (GSL), from three to one per cent, risks undermining the efforts to maximise national benefits from the country’s natural resources.

At a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, the policy think-tank said the decision by the government, with the intention of cushioning investors, was a departure from global development shift, anchored on ownership and greater benefits.

“Why did government increase royalties, ostensibly to capture greater value from Ghana’s mineral wealth, only to simultaneously dilute that gain through tax concessions?” Justice Sophia Akuffo, a Distinguished Fellow of the IEA, said.

She noted that reduction in the levies weakened the broader objective of ensuring that Ghana derived maximum benefit from its extractive sector, calling for coherent and predictable fiscal policies aligned with long-term national interests.

The former Chief Justice raised concerns over the country having trillions of dollars in natural resources yet visiting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 17 times for financial bailouts from imminent economic collapse.

She also cited the Minister of Finance’s recent announcement of the Government borrowing GH¢17 billion to pay salaries as concerning, urging actions to leverage the country’s natural and mineral resources to champion national development agenda.

Justice Akuffo referred to Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chile, and Venezuela, who have a embraced a new arrangement, anchored on ownership, calling on the government to adopt new terms for resource extraction for long-term benefits to the country.

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In Botswana for example, there was increased State participation in its diamond industry to capture greater value for the people, while Burkina Faso used similar agreements in the management of its natural and mineral resources, the former Chief Justice said.

“These developments have shown that asserting sovereignty does not repel investment; rather, it redefines the terms of engagement in favour of national development,” she said.

“They also show that Africans have woken up, and Ghana must join the awakening.”

“The fact that over 30 mining leases are nearing expiration, the record highs in the global prices key minerals and the discoveries of new critical minerals, offers Ghana a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset the country’s mineral resource governance framework.”

That, she indicated, required engaging the private sector, local and foreign expertise strictly through service contracts that preserved national control and maximise benefits for Ghana’s industrial transformation.