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A push to expand local participation in Ghana’s mining sector is now forcing a closer look at the economics of contract work, with regulators developing minimum wage and tender benchmarks to prevent aggressive bidding from undermining worker pay, training and safety.
The Minerals Commission is preparing the measures as the country pushes mining companies to transfer surface operations to Ghanaian-owned contractors and underground operations to joint ventures with at least 50% local ownership. The compliance deadline is 31 December 2026, making the contractor market an increasingly important part of Ghana’s mining value chain. The policy has, however, exposed a tension at the heart of the local-content drive. While greater Ghanaian participation is intended to retain more mining value domestically, workers have raised concerns that moving operations to contractors could leave them on lower wages and with weaker job security.
Minerals Commission’s Director of Local Content, Ben Birch-Mensah said the regulator wants to prevent that outcome. “The regulator does not want people to be worse off under contract mining. We are putting together a baseline so that contract miners cannot pay employees below a certain threshold,” said Birch-Mensah. The wage benchmark is being developed alongside minimum tender thresholds intended to address another pressure emerging from the shift to contract mining: underbidding.
Birch-Mensah said some contractors have submitted bids at levels that make it difficult to cover their operating costs, prompting the Commission to establish a committee to develop the details of the new tender framework. The concern extends beyond contractor profitability. Unsustainable bids can ultimately translate into pressure on wages, reduced investment in training and weaker safety performance as contractors attempt to make contracts financially viable.
Ghana Chamber of Mines’ Chief Executive, Ken Ashigbey, said the Chamber supports measures to curb unhealthy competition even though it has opposed mandatory contract mining. “If people keep undercutting themselves, they may not have the resources to undertake the work, they won’t pay workers properly, they won’t train people, and safety is compromised,” said Ashigbey. The Chamber is also examining contractor classifications and minimum bid thresholds, recognising that the financial health of contractors has direct implications for the quality and safety of mining operations.
According to Ashigbey, the issue is particularly significant because contractors already account for a substantial share of mining incidents. That places greater scrutiny on how the industry manages the transition from owner-operated mining towards a model in which more operational responsibility sits with external companies.Ghana’s January 2025 directive forms part of a wider push to increase local participation and retain more economic value from the country’s mineral resources. Surface activities including blasting, loading, hauling and dumping are expected to move to Ghanaian-owned contractors, while underground operations are to be undertaken through joint ventures meeting the 50% local-ownership requirement.
The Minerals Commission has made clear that the December 2026 deadline is non-negotiable. Newmont, Zijin and Ghana Manganese Company are among companies yet to comply, according to Birch-Mensah.The change means contractor selection in mining companies is becoming a strategic procurement issue rather than simply a local-content obligation. The ability to demonstrate competitive pricing, operational capacity, worker protections and safety performance will become increasingly important as more work moves outside traditional mine-owner structures.
For contractors, meanwhile, the emerging tender floors could alter the competitive landscape. Companies will have less scope to win work simply by offering the lowest price if bids are required to demonstrate that they can sustain wages, training, equipment, safety and operating costs. That could ultimately make Ghana’s localisation drive more sustainable. The policy challenge is to ensure that local ownership translates into genuine economic participation without creating a race to the bottom on labour costs or operational standards. Ghana is now attempting to address both sides of that equation before the 2026 compliance deadline arrives.
