Plans mooted by stakeholders to make Ghana the one-stop-shop for all mining supply chain and support services in the sub region is fully on course.

This when implemented will make the country the central point for every mining activity in the West African Sub region.

Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Suleimana Koney told Joy Business that a consortium of experts will begin a study on the proposal and will come out with a strategy soon.

‘Ghana has all it takes to make this dream a reality because we started this business of gold mining before all the others in the sub region and we have the resources. We are better place to be the central point in mining as a country’ Sulemanu Koney told members of the Journalists for Business Advocacy last week.

He said the study will be able to determine the competitive advantage Ghana has over other countries, and also to make recommendations to build and sustain support service firms to provide inputs to the mining sector in West Africa competitively.

He therefore assured that the findings by the consortium and recommendations of the study which is expected before the end of the year will be shared with the government for input.

He cited the example of Nigeria and other neighboring countries, which seeks to diversify its economy, with mineral resources including gold, zinc, iron ore, and other rare earth metals.

According to him, these developments presented opportunities that the support services sub-sector in Ghana should harness.

Despite a fall in its output in 2020, Ghana maintained its ranking as the largest gold producer in Africa, and the sixth-largest producer in the world.

Gold output dipped to 4,633 tons in 2020, from 4,820 tons in 2019, due to the impact of Covid-19.