The CEO of the Chamber of Mines, Kenneth Ashigbey, says Ghana is already losing major mining investments to neighbouring countries because of what he describes as an unfriendly fiscal regime.

Speaking on PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, he pointed to the exit of mining giant Endeavour Mining from Ghana to Côte d’Ivoire as a warning sign for the country’s mining sector.

“Endeavour, for example, moved from Ghana, went to Cote d’Ivoire,” he said.

He revealed that one mining company that sold a property in South Sudan had initially planned to invest the proceeds in Ghana, but later redirected the funds to Côte d’Ivoire due to concerns about Ghana’s tax regime.

“That money moved into Cote d’Ivoire, due to the fiscal regime that is not friendly, especially the royalty,” he said.

According to him, Ghana’s increase in royalty rates from 5% to between 5% and 12% has significantly raised production costs for mining firms and weakened the country’s competitiveness.

“What you have done is that you’ve added an additional cost to the production of these mining firms,” he stated.

Mr Ashigbey explained that investors compare returns across countries before deciding where to commit capital. He warned that Ghana risks becoming less attractive as countries across West Africa improve their mining policies and investment climate.

“If they brought that into Ghana, in terms of the share of the rent, the profit that was coming, government was going to take above 60, and you have an Ivory Coast, you have other countries that were going to take less, definitely you are going to find out that you’re going to get some of your investments moved out,” he stressed.

He said while Ghana had historically benefited from political stability and incentives under Act 703, competing countries are quickly catching up.

“When I went to Cote d’Ivoire… their objective is that in the next 10 years they want to be the leading producer of gold in Africa,” he disclosed.

Mr Ashigbey also pointed to rising mining activity in Guinea, arguing that Ghana can no longer assume it will remain the region’s preferred destination for mining investment.

“The geology is not restricted to Ghana,” he said.

He therefore urged government to reconsider aspects of the current fiscal framework to prevent further investor exits and protect Ghana’s position in the mining industry.