ACCRA, October 13, 2026 — The Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources have agreed to work towards a formal partnership to strengthen specialised reporting on mining, forestry and land reform in Ghana.
The agreement followed a courtesy call by an IFEJ delegation, led by its President, Roger Agambire Agana, on the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, in Accra.
The proposed partnership will focus on capacity building for journalists, technical briefings, joint research and publications, and improved access to the ministry’s agencies and ongoing projects.
Mr Agana called on the ministry to support training programmes and technical briefings to help journalists better understand the sector. He said IFEJ was also prepared to support public education on government policies and help communities understand the push for local value addition in the minerals sector.
A member of the delegation, Bernard Yaw Ashiadey, proposed the development of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), an annual conference on mining and natural resource governance, and joint research initiatives involving technical experts from the ministry.
He also called for closer collaboration between IFEJ and the ministry’s agencies, including opportunities for journalists to visit degraded lands undergoing reclamation to assess both the environmental damage and ongoing restoration efforts.
Mr Buah welcomed the proposals and agreed to organise a half-day workshop at which he and the heads of the ministry’s agencies would brief IFEJ members on sector policies and reforms.
He said general media coverage often failed to adequately explain the substance of government policies, underscoring the need for journalists with specialised knowledge of mining and natural resource management.
New mining policy and proposed reforms
The minister said Cabinet had approved a new mining policy to replace the 2014 framework, while a new mining law before Parliament would introduce community mining agreements requiring companies to commit to development priorities identified by their host communities.
Under the proposed arrangements, mining companies would be required to provide written commitments to support agreed community development goals, including the construction of schools and roads and the provision of training throughout the life of a mine.
“It’s not a charity. It’s not corporate social responsibility,” Mr Buah said, emphasising the proposed agreements as a formal obligation on mining companies.
He said the reforms would also reduce mining lease terms from 30 years to 20 years, after which the state would determine whether to renew the leases or introduce Ghanaian partners.
In addition, holders of reconnaissance licences who fail to demonstrate expenditure on exploration after five years would lose their licences.
The government is also introducing a medium-scale mining category to enable Ghanaian small-scale operators to expand their operations.
Forestry restoration and land administration
On forestry, Mr Buah said 44 forest reserves had been destroyed in recent years, leaving an estimated area of degraded land equivalent to about 13,000 football fields.
He said the state had regained full control of the affected reserves and was working to restore them through the Tree for Life initiative.
The programme involves schoolchildren in tree-planting activities and receives private-sector support to address funding gaps in the restoration effort.
The minister also highlighted the use of technology to reform land administration and improve access to land-related services.
Partnership to begin with workshop
The proposed collaboration will begin with the half-day workshop, after which IFEJ members are expected to engage directly with the ministry’s agencies.
The initiative is intended to strengthen journalists’ understanding of policy developments and improve public reporting on mining, forestry, land administration and natural resource governance in Ghana.
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