Parliament has approved a major lithium mining lease agreement for the Ewoyaa concession in the Central Region, marking Ghana’s formal entry into the fast-growing global market for green minerals.
The agreement, signed between the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and Barari DV Ghana Limited, covers a 42.63 square kilometre area in the Mfantsiman Municipality and grants rights for the extraction of lithium and other associated minerals.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, presented the agreement to the House in line with constitutional and legal requirements, after which it was referred to the Parliamentary Committee on Lands and Natural Resources for scrutiny.
The Committee engaged key stakeholders, including the Minerals Commission, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), and the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), and concluded that earlier concerns had largely been addressed within the terms of the deal.
However, the approval did not come without controversy.
The Minority Caucus, led by Alexander Afenyo-Markin, strongly opposed the agreement, raising concerns over Ghana’s long-term benefit from the arrangement and questioning the continued reliance on foreign-led, royalty-based mining models.
The Committee itself acknowledged growing calls for Ghana to adopt a more state-driven approach to lithium exploitation, describing the proposal as a potential shift in the country’s mineral resource policy framework.
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Lithium, a critical component in the production of batteries, glass, and aluminium, has become a strategic resource globally, driven by the rapid expansion of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems.
Analysts project that global demand for lithium could exceed 2.4 million metric tonnes by 2030, with the lithium-ion battery market expected to surpass $400 billion in value.
The approval of the Ewoyaa lithium lease positions Ghana to tap into this booming market, but it also intensifies the national conversation around resource ownership, value retention, and whether the country is securing maximum benefit from its strategic minerals.
