By Issah Mohammed, GNA
Accra, Nov. 13, GNA – The Government has proposed a new law to channel revenues from Ghana’s natural resources exclusively into major national infrastructure projects.
The proposed Natural Resource Revenue Management Act will replace the Petroleum Revenue Management Act and extend the framework beyond oil to cover gold, lithium, bauxite and other extractive resources.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Minister of Finance, announced the proposal when he presented the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament on Thursday.
He said the existing arrangement had spread petroleum revenues and mineral royalties across various government expenditures instead of concentrating them on major national investments.
“Let it be placed on record. The same revenue streams that were for over a decade spread thinly and spent on wasteful expenditures such as astroturfs, air tickets, per diems, newspapers, workshops and conferences, will now finance two monumental national investments in four years: the Accra-Kumasi Expressway and the Western Corridor Railway Line,” he said.
The Minister said the proposed legislation would bring revenues from all extractive resources under “one clear and accountable framework, for the benefit of present and future generations”.
“Building on that experience, our natural resource revenues will only be directed to major national infrastructure projects,” he said.
Dr Forson cited the Accra-Kumasi Expressway as an example of the proposed financing approach, saying Parliament had approved the dedication of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) from petroleum revenues, together with mineral royalties, solely to the project.
He said the project account at the Bank of Ghana held US$2.2 billion and GH¢9 billion as of November 11, 2026, together equivalent to about US$3 billion.
The same financing arrangement is proposed for the Western Corridor Railway Line, with petroleum revenue accruing to the budget and mineral royalties dedicated to its construction in 2027 and 2028, he said.
The railway will be built without borrowing and will run from Takoradi Harbour through Nsuta and Awaso to Nyinahin in the Ashanti Region.
Dr Forson said inadequate rail infrastructure had limited the development of Ghana’s bauxite and manganese resources and their contribution to the economy.
“For decades, the lack of adequate rail infrastructure has left much of our bauxite and manganese stranded,” he said.
The Minister said the railway would facilitate the development of the mineral resources for national development and job creation, noting that Ghana had an estimated one billion tonnes of bauxite deposits at Awaso and Nyinahin.
The railway is also expected to support the transportation of minerals for local processing and value addition, while Takoradi Harbour would serve as a major maritime gateway to the Sahel.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
13 Nov. 2026
Reporter: Issah Mohammed