Regulatory Structures and Challenges to Developmental Extractives

Abstract

Ghana’s large natural resource endowment of various minerals as well as oil is well known. The country has been mining gold for over a century, ranking second in production in Africa, and has also undergone regulatory transformations resulting in significant improvement in the mining sector. This chapter seeks to share the experience of a regulator and offers some perspectives on the purpose, content, and challenges of the practical regulation of an extractives sector in a lower-middle-income economy. The chapter looks at both the design and content of a regulatory system and throws light on the practical challenges (technical and political) of implementation. In light of the increasing allure of resource nationalism in recent times, the chapter also takes a brief navigation into the manner in which relationships are established and maintained by the regulatory bodies with both large multinational and small artisanal mining operations.