Corporate Social Responsibility, Mining and Sustainable Development in Ghana

Abstract

Ghana is the second largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa, and the third largest African producer of aluminium metal and manganese ore and a significant producer of bauxite and diamond. Despite the huge revenue generated from mining activities, there is a growing unease amongst the population as regards the real benefits accruing the country, especially the mining communities. There is a general belief in Ghana that poverty and lack of sustainable development in the mining communities and the country in general has been caused by the behavior and operations of the mining companies. The negative impact of mining activities on the environment among others include environmental contamination, pollutions (noise and water), land degradation, chemical contamination from extraction processes imposes a double burden on the environment, with harmful health outcomes for mining communities and persons residing in close proximity to such areas. However, less attention has been paid to environmental degradation and health status of the host communities. Ghana currently has nine large-scale mining companies producing gold, diamonds, bauxite and manganese. There are also over two hundred registered small-scale mining groups and 90 mine support service companies. Ghana's mining sector is dominated and controlled by foreign companies; with the Government of Ghana (GoG) having not more than 10% ownership is most cases. This paper provides a concise account of the Corporate Social Responsibility of the mining industry in Ghana and assesses the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and practices of the major mining companies in the country. It proposes a range of measures to promote, broaden, deepen and encourage corporate social responsibility governance in Ghana.