Ensuring Harmonious Relations among Investors and Communities in an Emerging Oil and Gas Industry in Ghana

Abstract

The development of mining has been in Ghana since the 1880s with the mining of gold, diamonds, bauxite, manganese etc. This has brought both development of social infrastructure, road improvement, growth of villages into towns and provision of housing facilities to workers of mining communities to live better. However, this has not been done without much controversy and conflict among the communities where the exploitation of the minerals occurs. In most cases conflict arises among the chiefs or traditional rulers and the subjects or the investors and the communities concerned. Thus, the procedures for determining the beneficiaries for royalties and unequal developments sometimes stall the successful operations of the industry. Other potential conflicts involve environmental concerns. This paper therefore seeks to examine the implications of the emerging oil and gas industry in reducing conflicts among investors and the communities in which the oil and gas industry is developed. It draws evidence from mining areas across the world and the effects previous experiences of mining had on Ghana.

Key words: Investors –Community relations, emerging oil and gas industry in Ghana, Environmental impact assessment