Community leaders within the Mfantseman Municipality have appealed to the Government to add value to all natural resources before exporting them for economic gains.

The country over the years lacked several infrastructural developments due to the inability to process its natural resources into finished products before export.

“We need to process our own resources before exporting them to accrue huge revenues to improve the economy “, they advised.

At a District Stakeholders’ engagement to discuss findings on the recent discovery of Lithium at Saltpond, the leaders blamed the current economic woes on the country’s incapability to well package its natural resources to attract the ready international markets for improved revenues.

The meeting organized by the Institute of Energy Security (IES) in partnership with the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), was to promote a transparent natural resource governance regime in Ghana to be in line with global best practices.

It was on the theme: “Avoiding the Mining Curse, Promoting Efficient and Sustainable Lithium Extraction in Ghana.”

The community elders, however, called for the establishment of a processing factory or plant to extract the raw resources, especially the newly discovered lithium into finished goods for huge revenues for development.

According to them, the country could improve its economy if measures and interventions were put in place to ensure transparency and accountability of all the resources at its disposal.

Some resources included gold, diamond, bauxite, timber, and cocoa, among others.

Nana Mbroba Dabo I, the Paramount Queen mother of the Anomabo Traditional Area said it was time to change the economic fortunes of the country with its natural resources, especially the newly discovered lithium.

She expressed concern that mining companies were making huge capital and profits from natural resources but denying host communities the benefits needed to grow and develop.

“The mining companies enjoy the benefits, leaving the people to suffer the effect of their mining activities and this is unfair “, she stressed.

Nana Dabo encouraged the Government to engage in the best negotiations in terms of equity and taxes and always ensure transparency for the country to benefit from the lithium.

The operating community leaders, she emphasized, should be involved in the negotiations to ensure the people’s interests were captured in the deal for their betterment.

Additionally, she advised traditional rulers to put the interest of the people first when negotiating with mining companies and not to depend on ‘small chops’ to avoid the incidents that had bedevilled gold, diamond, and other mining communities.

“We should present the best negotiators to ensure the contract and license signed are favourable to the country to trickle down to the people,” she added.

The Queen mother called on them to support the exploration of lithium in commercial quantities in a manner that would be mutually beneficial to the community and its people.

Isaac Lord Enu, the Municipal Chief Executive of Mfantseman commended IES for the engagement and pledged the Assembly’s resolve to bargain well with the mining companies to ensure the communities were well developed with resources from that mineral.

He admitted that the engagement would help promote the socio-economic interests of the people to improve their lives and enhance their standard of living.

For his part, Alhassan Iddrisu, a Project Consultant, outlined the relevance of the engagement, adding that it would solicit input from various stakeholders to fine-tune it towards the best interest of the people.

The mining companies, he mentioned, had to be educated on the need to collaborate with the communities to understand their needs and channel their corporate social responsibility to address them.

Outlining some recommendations, Alhassan Iddrisu said the mining companies and government must ensure cleaner, safer, and more efficient mining sites that protected workers and increase productivity.

He added that illicit mining should be discouraged through appropriate legislation and enforcement when the companies were granted the permits to mine.

A copy of the discovered lithium agreement should be made available to the host communities in a language they understand for transparency, Mr Iddrisu stated.