Ghana to establish bauxite refinery soon
Time:Thu, 14 Dec 2017 05:52:32 +0800
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Dr Mahamudu Bawumia Vice President as saying that government is working to establish a bauxite refinery plant to process the mineral as part of efforts to add value to natural resources to maximize profit and create jobs. He said that government was putting in place all the necessary legislative framework and logistics to construct the refinery in the next 2 or 3 years.
A bill seeking to set up a Bauxite Development Authority to facilitate the establishment of an Integrated Aluminium Industry will be submitted to Parliament early next year after broad consultations have been done.
Mr Bawumia Vice President made the disclosure in Accra when he took part in a panel discussion on the role of the private sector in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals at the African Round table.
Other panel members who took part in the discussion were; Gunnar Andreas-Holm, the Norwegian Ambassador to Ghana, Nana Osei Bonsu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Private Enterprise Federation, and Ms. Razia Khan, the Chief Economist for Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, London.
The Vice President said that “Our goal is to have an aluminium refinery in Ghana in the next two or three years, possibly by 2019, we are going to look at the power and other issues, but there is no reason we shouldn’t refine our gold or bauxite, there is a clear direction that the President has set, we will go with the Bill to parliament early next year, and move on with the establishment of the refinery”.
He said that the establishment of the refinery would further show government’s resolve to partner the private sector to achieve the United Nations SDGs and make the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian better.
Achieving the SDGs would benefit both the public and private sectors, Vice President Bawumia said, and that government was working to create an enabling environment to improve the health and employable skills of the people.
He said that “Government will fulfill its obligation to the citizenry to provide a safe, healthy and economically sound environment for growth. When we fail to fulfill the SDGs there will be a lot of hunger and poverty, therefore, it is imperative and in the interest of the private sector to achieve the SDGs so that there will be prosperity among the people.”
