Lands and Natural Resouces Minister, John Peter Amewu, has assured mining investors in Ghana that the Value Added Tax (VAT) on exploration activities will soon be reduced to attract more investment.

He said the government is certain the move will remove some of the tax burdens on businesses in the exploration and extractive sector.

Mr. Amewu disclosed this at the closing session of the 3-day African Downunder Mining Conference in Perth, Australia.

“Government has intended to attract more businesses like mining companies into Ghana and we are looking seriously into the regime to make it more attractive...one of the difficulties that we know that most of the mining companies in Ghana face have to do with the Value Added Tax on exploration activities. 

We are having serious discussions with companies to see how we can together begin to reduce it," the Minister said.

John Peter Amewu

He said the 2018 budget, which is set to be presented to Parliament in November this year is likely to capture the revised VAT charges on exploration activities.

“I have had several engagements with the Minister of Finance and we are hoping that in next year’s budget something will come out very significantly in the area of that,” the Minister adds.

The issue of VAT on mining exploration remains a major concern for mining companies in the country.

Mr John Amewu also announced that Government will soon rationalize the operations of waste management in the country.

The move, he said, is among many others aimed at breaking the monopoly of Zoomlion Company Ltd in waste management in the country.

"It is a fact that Zoomlion became a monopoly in the country over a long period of time. But don't forget that he [founder of Zoomlion Ghana -- Joseph Siaw Agyapong] was the first person to see [potential] where nobody wants to go and he decided to go there so he has expanded beyond any imagination.

"But what government is doing now is to regionalize the operation of waste management," he said.

Mr Amewu said the rationalization process will promote healthy competition in the sector.