President Calls for African Countries to Unite on Mineral Royalties and Mining Agreements

President John Dramani Mahama has called on African countries to strengthen cooperation in negotiating mineral agreements to prevent competition among governments from weakening the continent’s bargaining power and reducing the benefits citizens receive from their natural resources.

He said countries needed to share information and expertise on mining negotiations, taxation and investment conditions to ensure that a greater proportion of mineral wealth remained on the continent.

Addressing the opening of the 2026 Mining in Motion Summit in Accra, President Mahama said Ghana’s efforts to secure better terms from mining companies would be more effective if aligned with those of its neighbours.

“Ghana’s domestic efforts will be more effective when they align with those of our neighbours,” he said.

The President cited an experience from his previous presidency in which a leader from another West African country contacted him over a mining company’s demand for lower royalties.

He recalled that Ghana had issued stability agreements for two mining companies that capped royalties at 30 per cent.

According to him, his counterpart was negotiating with a company seeking to establish a mine in that country but was being told that the investment could be moved to Ghana if the company was required to pay a higher royalty.

“He had a company that had come to his country to negotiate for a mine, and he was seeking royalties of 10 per cent. The company told him that if he wanted 10 percent, it would take the investment to Ghana because Ghana charged 30 percent,” President Mahama said.

He said he had confirmed to his counterpart that Ghana was charging 30 per cent under the agreements in question, explaining that the experience demonstrated the need for African governments to exchange information and coordinate their negotiating positions.

“I had to tell him that, yes, we were charging 30 per cent. This demonstrates the need for us to share information and expertise to ensure that more of the value remains on our continent,” he said.

President Mahama warned that poor negotiations and the award of large mineral concessions to foreign interests could leave African countries with only a small share of the wealth extracted from their resources.

He said the resulting financial outflows deprived African economies and communities of the full benefits of their mineral endowments.

“Poor negotiations and the award of large mineral concessions to foreign interests leave African nations with only a pittance of the wealth extracted from our soils. This results in massive financial outflows from the continent, while African countries and their communities continue to suffer,” he said.

The President called for a common African approach that accommodates the circumstances and industrial needs of individual countries while allowing them to cooperate on taxation, mining regulations and investment negotiations.

He said African countries should resist agreements that create conflict among them and weaken their collective bargaining position.

“To my fellow African leaders, I propose closer cooperation on fair taxation, responsible mining and meaningful local participation. We must resist agreements that create conflict among us and weaken our collective bargaining position,” he said.

President Mahama said cooperation should extend beyond negotiations to include regional processing arrangements that guarantee genuine transformation of mineral resources and fair benefits for participating countries.

He argued that African minerals should increasingly be processed into products such as electric vehicle batteries, electric cables, transformers, finished aluminium components and rare-earth magnets before leaving the continent.

He also urged African governments to improve the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area by addressing non-tariff barriers, simplifying customs procedures and improving transport and payment systems.

The President said foreign investment remained welcome but should support African enterprise, technology transfer and industrial development.

“To investors, I say: Bring your capital, expertise and technology. Partner with us in African enterprise and resources to build competitive industries here in Africa,” he said.

He added that Agenda 2063, the African Mining Vision and the African Continental Free Trade Area provided foundations for stronger cooperation, which should translate into coordinated investments, regional infrastructure and larger markets for African producers.

President Mahama said African countries must work together to ensure that mineral wealth supports industrialisation, employment and improved living conditions across the continent.

Richard Aniagyei, ISD