Justice Sophia Akuffo, a former Chief Justice, and Fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), has urged the Government to immediately review all contracts pertaining to Ghana's natural resources to enable the country to gain most from their exploitation.
The review, she said, should make the country earn a return of at least 60 per cent on its natural resources, worth over 10 trillion, to support the country's economic transformation and curb its debt burden.
Justice Sophia Akuffo made the call at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, on the theme: 'Maximising the benefits from Ghana's natural resources.' She raised concerns over the exploitation of Ghana's natural resources for many years, under concession leases that ceded exclusive rights to foreign firms that kept disproportionally high shares of the products and paid "paltry" amounts in the form of royalties and taxes.
Justice Sophia Akuffo mentioned gold, diamond, bauxite, iron ore, oil, natural gas, cocoa, and timber as some of the natural resources.
