The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has emphasized the need to promote the efficient and sustainable lithium exploitation in Ghana’s mining industry.
This is on the back of Lithium discovery in commercial quantities in the Central Region.
Addressing a National Stakeholder Dialogue on Energy Transition which focus on Lithium discovery in Ghana, the Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security, Nana Amoasi the Seventh called for proper regulations for the new mineral.
“First we should learn from our past mistake. How did we miss the opportunities in the domain of gold extraction and oil and natural gas exploration although we had all the regulations and so if we could learn the lessons from there, we can transfer it to the domain of Lithium and ensure that we get our things right,” he said.
“We must regulate the sector very well. We must put in the right policies and legislation so that we can manage the resource very well but this must not come equally with corruption as it has been our bane and we find it in the extractive sector,” he added.
Stressing on the need for the active participation of the locals Nana Amoasi (VII) said, “ We must also see local participation so much in that the licensing process, we must ensure that Ghanaians are holding those license and if there are foreign partners we must ensure that there are safeguards which put the Ghanaian interest paramount,”
On his part, the Vice Chairman of the National Resource Governance Institute Advisory Council, Professor Ernest Aryeetey highlighted the need for capacity building for the country in order for the country to maximize the full benefit of the discovery: “It’s important to note the challenges, as lithium on its own cannot make any big difference to the economy of Ghana”.
Professor Aryeetey further called for a substantial in the sector: “For it to have any impact on the economy, we have to invest massively in the production of the green energy. In order to encourage that investment, we have to build capacity by equipping our students in the Universities to understand the emerging technologies in the extractive sector,”.