{"id":23248,"date":"2026-02-03T12:13:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T10:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/ghana-offers-levy-cut-as-sweetener-for-higher-gold-royalty-regime\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:34:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:34:05","slug":"ghana-offers-levy-cut-as-sweetener-for-higher-gold-royalty-regime","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/ghana-offers-levy-cut-as-sweetener-for-higher-gold-royalty-regime\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana offers levy cut as sweetener for higher gold royalty regime"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ghana&#8217;s Finance Minister has offered to cut a mining levy by two percentage points to help push through a new gold royalty regime that mining companies warn could deter investment, the Head of the miners lobby has told <em>Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Africa&#8217;s top gold producer wants to replace its flat royalty rate with a sliding system of 5%\u201312% to capture more value as prices surge.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The new gold royalty regime, which adds about one percentage point for every $500 rise in the gold price similar to the system in Burkina Faso, will take effect 21 days from Tuesday unless parliament amends it. Ghana&#8217;s gold mining companies want the rate reduced.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Chamber of Mines Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Ashigbey told <em>Reuters<\/em> on Monday that, after recent talks, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson instead proposed cutting a fee known as the growth and sustainability levy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We asked that the 3% levy be removed entirely, but the Minister is offering to take off only two points,&#8221; Ashigbey said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ghana&#8217;s Finance and Mines Ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A government source familiar with the talks confirmed that the Minister had proposed the two percentage-point levy cut.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The source said the finance minister told companies he was open to dialogue, though parliament could still pass the royalty amendment as it is unless the Ministry submits an alternative.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>MINERS BEGAN PAYING HIGHER TAX AFTER FAILED RESISTANCE<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The GSL was doubled to 3% last year. Producers refused to pay but later complied while talks continued, the mining sector regulator told Reuters in January.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As for the new gold royalty regime, Ashigbey said miners wanted a range of 4%-8%, with one percentage point earmarked for a development fund for host communities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He said the chamber also wants wider royalty price bands, arguing that the government\u2019s thresholds trigger higher rates too easily, which could squeeze higher-cost or less profitable mines.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ashigbey said the chamber is seeking urgent engagement.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe question is whether government wants revenue on a sustainable basis or just in the next few years before investments move elsewhere,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23035,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-23248","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Ghana's Finance Minister has offered to cut a mining levy by two percentage points","published_date":"2026-02-03 14:12:44","news_description":"Ghana's Finance Minister has offered to cut a mining levy by two percentage points","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26275,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23248\/revisions\/26275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=23248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}