According to the chamber, the contribution were in the areas of tax, corporate income tax, Pay-as-You- Earn(PAYE), salaries and royalties.
Speaking at a news conference in Accra on Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GCM, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, attributed the relative economic stability witnessed in the economy to the impressive performance of the mining sector, especially the gold sub-sector.
“The relative stability we are seeing in the economy and the cedi is largely due to the performance of the gold sector,” Dr Ashigbey stated.
He said members of the Chamber collectively paid GH¢10.3 billion in taxes to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in 2024, representing a 38-per cent increase over the previous year.
That, he said came after a remarkable 109-per cent growth recorded in 2023.
Dr Ashigbey said mineral royalty payments also saw a substantial rise, climbing 77 per cent from GH¢2.8 billion in 2023 to GH¢4.9 billion in 2024.
The GCM CEO indicated that PAYE taxes paid by mining companies increased by 11 per cent to GH¢1.5 billion.
Dr Ashigbey said government dividends from mining interests surged dramatically by 604 per cent, from GH¢139 million to GH¢1.03 billion.
He stated that the industry’s total fiscal contribution represented a 51 per cent growth over the previous year, demonstrating mining’s central role in the national economy.
“When we start talking about contributions of the industry, people say they don’t know what we get out of mining. If you consolidate all of this, which is just the mandatory payments that we make to government, that is GH¢17.7 billion,” he said.
He noted that revenue for the sector grew by 70.8 per cent in 2024, while local expenditure by producing member companies reached GH¢5.5 billion.
Dr Ashigbey said of this, spending on goods and services excluding electricity and diesel, amounted to GH¢2.9 billion, saying diesel and electricity, both sourced locally under the local content policy, also contributed significantly to domestic spending.
Dr Ashigbey said the large-scale mining industry spent $28 million on corporate social investments, largely in host communities.
“Capital expenditure amounted to nearly $1 billion, while $241 million and $111 million were spent on imported consumables and loan amortisation respectively,” he said.
Dr Ashigbey said compensation to employees of producing companies totaled $615 million.
He said direct Ghanaian employment stood at 11,303 compared to only 69 expatriates.
“Only 0.6 per cent of industry leaders are expatriates, making mining one of the most Ghanaian-led sectors,” he stated.
He said the Chamber and its members remained committed to deepening local content and supporting the development of allied industries to spur broad-based economic growth.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE