Kofi Bentil Slams Foreign Dominance in Mining, Asserting Ghana Can Survive Without South Africa | Discuss Ghana

The ongoing conversation regarding the local ownership of Ghana’s extractive sector has taken a highly nationalistic, confrontational turn. Directing a sharp, uncompromised critique toward multinational dominance in the mining industry, the Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has asserted that Ghanaian firms possess the complete technical and financial capacity to execute any operation currently handled by South African mining giant Gold Fields.

Bentil’s hard-line commentary anchors a swelling wave of resource nationalism tracking across the country. Amidst heightened geopolitical and labor conversations regarding the presence of foreign conglomerates in West Africa, the prominent lawyer and policy analyst made it clear that Ghana must shed its historical dependency complexes and boldly embrace full economic self-reliance:

"There is nothing Gold Fields is doing that a Ghanaian firm cannot do. We can survive without South Africa.

For decades, we have operated under the false narrative that our people lack the sophisticated engineering capacity or the capital depth required to run large-scale corporate mines. It is a myth that keeps us poor while our wealth is exported. Look at the local engineering firms and indigenous contractors we have today—they have the competence, they understand the terrain, and they can raise the necessary financial syndications if given the state's backing. We must stop treating foreign multinationals like irreplaceable saviors. If we want true economic independence, we must trust our own, retain our gold revenues locally, and realize that our survival does not depend on external corporate entities."

The Context of the Resource Battle

Bentil’s push for indigenous mining dominance aligns with critical resource flashpoints currently reshaping the Ghanaian extractive landscape:

The Damang Mine Transition: The push for localization achieved a concrete milestone earlier when the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources upheld a recommendation for indigenous firm Engineers and Planners, led by businessman Ibrahim Mahama, to take over the historic Damang Mine concession. The lease was previously held by Abosso Gold Fields Limited (a subsidiary of Gold Fields) before expiring. Bentil heavily defended this local takeover asset against critics, calling it a vital victory for Ghanaian enterprise.

The Tarkwa Renewal Gridlock: The larger battleground remains focused on Gold Fields’ massive Tarkwa gold mine, whose current operational lease is set to expire in April 2027. Civil society organizations, including the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and IMANI Africa, have aggressively lobbied the state to completely reject Gold Fields’ application for a early 20-year lease extension, demanding that the mega-concession be re-allocated to local ownership blocks.

The Continental Tensions: Bentil's assertion that "we can survive without South Africa" also reflects wider, real-time public debates regarding the dominance of South African corporate titans (such as Gold Fields and MTN) within the domestic economy, sparking intense discussions about economic retaliation and local market preservation.