The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has thrown its weight behind President John Mahama’s position that Ghana must have full ownership of its natural and mineral resources and therefore must exercise this ownership right by engaging private sector local and foreign expertise strictly through service contracts that preserve national control and maximize benefits for the country’s industrial transformation.

According to the institute, the idea is not new, highlighting that “Countries such as Norway, Botswana, Chile, and lately Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali and several OPEC countries have followed this path and halted the spread of poverty in their countries”.

It stated that despite all these recent changes that have halted poverty in these countries some of the political leaders are still caught up in the old colonial paradigm and continue to rely on outdated royalty structures that export the country’s wealth and keep the people poor.

It continued that Ghana’s natural resources are sovereign assets held in trust for the people, noting that “This principle is firmly grounded in the 1992 Constitution, as well as in international instruments including UN General Assembly Resolution 1803 (1962) on Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources, UNGA Resolution 3281 (1974), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights”.

Therefore, it pointed out that any arrangement that transfers ownership to someone else under the guise of attracting investments ought to be considered unlawful.

Across Africa, there is growing recognition that foreign corporations and international institutions have long exploited the continent’s resource wealth under the guise of investment and development assistance. This discredited system has disproportionately benefited external interests while impoverishing African populations.

The IEA said the era of financial colonialism must come to an end.

It proposed that ownership and revenue restructuring model present Ghana with a historic opportunity to reclaim sovereignty and redirect resource wealth toward national development and prosperity for the Ghanaian.

In doing so, it added that it gives practical expression to President Mahama’s vision as articulated on various platforms. Therefore, in the years ahead, the expiration of multiple mining leases presents Ghana with a rare and strategic opportunity to break the mould and implement this new ownership model without breaching existing contractual obligations.

“We urge the Government not to renew expiring leases, but instead to pursue a new trajectory anchored in state ownership and the use of service contracts”, it concluded.