The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) is widening its supervisory net, venturing beyond the headline-grabbing gold sector to enforce royalty compliance among quarry operators. Chief Executive Justina Nelson led a tour of major sites in the Greater Accra Region last week, sending a clear signal that the state’s revenue-collecting arm is now scrutinizing every tonne of aggregate leaving the country’s pits.
Nelson’s itinerary read like a who’s who of the construction materials sector, with stops at Regimanuel Grey at Ablekuma, and Massey Stone and Eastern Quarries at Shai Hills. The message was two-pronged: boost production, but do so responsibly.
The visit underscores MIIF’s strategic shift to formalise and monetise every segment of the extractive value chain from sand winners to critical mineral developers not just the large-scale gold operations.
Speaking on the sidelines of the tour, Nelson framed the exercise within the context of a broader fiscal ambition. She revealed that the Fund’s tightened internal controls and cost-saving measures yielded a record GH¢5.4 billion in remitted royalties for 2025, a significant leap from GH¢4.9 billion the previous year. This performance, she noted, was achieved despite a cedi appreciation that typically deflates local currency receipts from dollar-denominated minerals.
“We intend to start 2026 early and aggressively,” Nelson stated, setting a clear challenge to operators to increase output to help the state beat its own record. However, the industry’s potential is being hampered by a familiar adversary: land encroachment. Nelson acknowledged that illegal developments are swallowing concession boundaries, threatening both operational viability and the royalty stream.
To counter this, MIIF is brokering a multi-agency response. Nelson revealed plans to bring Municipal and District Chief Executives, alongside traditional authorities, into a collaborative framework to protect concession borders. “We cannot eradicate it overnight, but a unified front with the chiefs and local assemblies can significantly reduce the pressure,” she said.
The discussions were not limited to extraction rates. Nelson pressed operators on their adherence to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles, advocating for robust Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives as a buffer against community tensions. The approach is a calculated one: fostering goodwill in host communities is increasingly seen as a prerequisite for uninterrupted operations.
Accompanying the MIIF CEO were key technical staff, including Chief Technical Officer Kwabena Barning and Acting Technical Head Nana Abaka Tandor. The Fund was met by the leadership of the Commercial Quarry Operators Association, with Chairman Dr. Ebenezer Mireku and Secretary Georgina Dziwornu on hand to articulate the sector’s challenges.
For Nelson, the tour was also an opportunity to reiterate the media’s watchdog role. She called for factual and balanced reporting, framing it not just as a journalistic duty but as an essential pillar supporting the transparent management of the nation’s geological patrimony.