The Minority in Parliament has predicted the potential loss of about one million jobs following the government’s introduction of the Minerals and Mining Royalty Regulations, 2025.
The Legislative Instrument, which matured into law on Monday, March 9, 2026, establishes a sliding-scale framework that allows royalty rates to be adjusted in response to fluctuations in international market prices, enabling the state to earn more during periods of high commodity prices.
Addressing journalists on Tuesday, March 10, the Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Patrick Boamah, said the new regulations could make Ghana’s mining sector less attractive to investors.
“If you introduce this, you may accrue some revenue, but the net effect is some job losses. Close to about a million jobs. If you lose close to a million jobs because the investments required did not come in, you are not going to get the employees’ tax, tax from companies,” he said.
He called on the government to reduce the Growth and Sustainability Levy on mining companies to one per cent to cushion firms and help maintain investor confidence in the sector.
The Legislative Instrument introduces a sliding-scale framework that allows royalty rates to be adjusted in response to fluctuations in international commodity prices.
The approach is intended to enable the state to earn more revenue during periods of high global prices.
The regulation also establishes a one per cent Community Development Fund for lithium mining to support infrastructure projects in the Mfantseman Municipality and other mining communities.
However, Ghana has faced pressure from the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Canada and Australia to halt the planned increase in gold royalties, with concerns that the move could adversely affect some of the world’s largest mining companies operating in the country.
