An International Conference on Payment Disclosures in the Extractive Industries, yesterday, took place in Accra. About fifty participants from Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique, Europe and the United States of America attended the conference which was held on the theme: The Role of International Transparency Initiatives as Tools for Accountability in Africa’s Extractive Industries.

May 23-24, 2013

Hon. Chair
Distinguished Delegates

On behalf of the President of the Republic of Ghana, I wish to thank the EITI Chair and the Secretariat for extending an invitation to the President of the Republic of Ghana to participate in this important conference. Ghana is one of the pioneers of EITI implementation. The Government of Ghana committed itself and signed on to the initiative in 2003 and has since participated fully in all EITI activities both regionally and internationally. It is worth noting that Ghana is the first country to undertake the EITI in the mining sector and proactively extended it to the sub-national level and the oil and gas sector.

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) presented Gold Fields Ghana Limited with the best Tax Payer Award for 2012 at its annual awards ceremony in Accra this week.

The ceremony honoring Gold Fields Ghana was held at the State Banquet hall and it recognized corporate institutions for their significant contributions to government revenue in terms of taxes paid. In 2012, Gold Fields Ghana contributed a total of US$250 million to Government revenue. The GRA also honored the company’s staff that worked hard in the year.

UPDATED - The Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) secretariat together with the EITI National Steering Committee, have completed the production of the 2010/2011 final draft Ghana EITI Audit Reports.  The Stakeholders have provided critical data and other inputs for the production of the reports. To ensure that the final reports accurately reflect stakeholders’ inputs the Ghana EITI secretariat is organising a technical validation round table workshop to discuss the report.

Foreword by the GHEITI Chairman (Chief Director of MoFEP)

I am pleased to present the 2012 Annual GHEITI Report for the Ghana EITI Secretariat. This report provides a summary of the many activities carried out by members of the National Steering Committee (NSC) and the GHEITI Secretariat for the period January –December 2012. It also provides a brief background on the Ghana EITI process, the significant successes chalked during the year and outlook for 2013.

Through a huge variety of ambitious activities undertaken as per our 2012 work plan, we have reached most of our key stakeholders such as the CSOs, Companies, the media, Members of Parliament and community people in the mining and oil and gas enclaves of the country than ever before. 

On behalf of the SLEITI Champion and the MSG in Sierra Leone, I thank the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the German International Cooperation (GIZ) and the World Bank for organizing the EITI Regional Conference and for inviting a delegation from Sierra Leone to participate in the sharing of experiences, exchange of ideas and in identifying opportunities and challenges that will enable our extractive resources in our respective countries become the engine of growth and sustainable development.

Ghana had its own share of challenges despite the useful policy recommendations made in the EITI reports to Government and other key stakeholders resulting ina number of reform measures. These challenges, in Ghana's situation, included:

Mr. Chairman, the fact that 35 countries across the globe are already implementing the initiative, about half of which are in Africa, goes to show what impact the initiative is capable of making and can make on our economies if properly followed through. It is in our overall interest that we in the African Region, take the advantage offered by the platform of the EITI to ensure that we get what is due to us, in a clear, honest and transparent manner.

- Regional Conference, September 2012

Na Chairman, your Excellency the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana,distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I represent a coalition, whose membership at present includes organized groupsand NGOs working on mining, oil and gas, forestry, public sector accountability,policy advocacy, and environmental issues. These include: the Integrated SocialDevelopment Centre (ISODEC), Friends of the Nation, Centre for Public InterestLaw, Public Agenda, the Trades Union Congress of Ghana, the National CatholicSecretariat, League of Environmental Journalists, NEWENERGY, and WACAM.

Mr. Chairman
Colleague Ministers
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Members of the Ghana EITI National Steering Committee
Friends of the Media
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

1. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to this all important breakfast meeting on the Ghana EITI Draft Bill. As a government and in line with the NDC party manifesto, the principles of EITI support our
efforts to promote good and accountable governance in our natural resource sectors.