Mining Liberalisation, Foreign Direct Investment, and the Use of Surface and Heap Leach Mining Technologies in Ghana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajec.v5i2.7753Keywords:
Environmental Law Deregulation, Foreign Direct Investment, Mining Liberalisation, Surface and Heap Leach Mining, Underlying FactorsAbstract
During the 1980s, many developing countries liberalised their mining sector to attract foreign investment. In Ghana, this policy revitalised the economy but also led to the adoption of environmentally harmful techniques such as surface and heap leach mining. This study examined mining stakeholders’ perceptions of whether mining sector liberalisation is associated with the use of these technologies. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining survey data from 384 respondents with qualitative insights from 41 interviewees and 42 focus group participants. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Spearman’s rank correlation, while qualitative data were analysed with NVivo. The results show a strong positive relationship (r = 0.667 and p-value = 0.000) between mining liberalisation and the use of surface and heap leach mining. Overall, respondents believe that Ghana’s mining liberalisation was associated with increased adoption of these environmentally harmful technologies.
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