Dr Steve Manteaw, the Co-Chair, the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), has called for urgent re-evaluation of the country’s Renewable Energy Policy. This, he said, was to enable the country to derive optimum benefits as the world transited from fossil fuel to renewable energy. He said the renewable energy sector had a huge potential and countries around the world were working speedily on their energy transition to capitalise on the economic prospects. Dr Manteaw, however, described the nation’s readiness and commitment towards the renewable energy transition as slow and unacceptable, considering the potential in the sector. The GHEITI Co-Chair made the call at a regional stakeholders’ dissemination workshop on the GHEITI 2020 Reports on the mining and oil and gas sectors, held at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality. The workshop, which was organised by the Ministry of Finance and the GHEITI with support from the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), had representatives from Municipal and District Assemblies, Heads of Department, Agencies and civil society organisations attending. Dr Manteaw said he was extremely unhappy about certain provisions in the nation’s Renewable Energy Policy, which had slowed down the country’s transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy. The policy puts the nation’s transition in 2070 which was very discouraging and required urgent re-evaluation and review, he added. Dr Manteaw noted if Ghana did not speed up in the transition process, other countries would capitalise, reap or derive the optimum benefits in the renewable energy sector. Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister, acknowledged the roles and contributions of industries in bolstering the nation’s economic stability and progress, indicating that lithium, as one of the critical minerals for the green transition, had been discovered in commercial quantities in other parts of the country. The government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources had been very proactive in developing a policy framework for green minerals in the country which was recently approved by the Cabinet. Madam Owusu-Banahene suggested that broader consultation be held on ways to regulate illegal mining in the region, and across the country, stressing also on the importance of intensifying efforts to strengthen and align Artisanal and Small-scale Miners (ASM) with best practices, while cracking down on illegal mining.
Source: Ghana News Agency
