The Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF) has called on mining companies to redirect a greater share of their community investments towards specialised healthcare, arguing that hospitals and medical equipment could provide a more lasting social legacy than conventional corporate social responsibility projects.
The Administrator of the GMTF, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, made the call at the National Mining Dialogue 2026 in Accra, where she urged the mining industry to rethink its approach to securing a social licence to operate.
Speaking on the theme, “Rethinking the Social License to Operate,” Ms. Darko-Opoku said mining companies should look beyond projects such as roads, schools and boreholes and invest in health systems capable of saving lives in their host communities.
She argued that the value generated by Ghana’s natural resources ultimately depended on the people who drove the country’s economy.
“You do not extract value from the soil. You extract value through people,” she said.
The GMTF Administrator warned that weaknesses in the country’s healthcare system could affect every sector of the economy, including mining, and urged industry leaders to recognise healthcare as a critical component of community development.
She cited a nationwide needs assessment conducted by the Ghana Medical Trust Fund across teaching, regional and referral hospitals, which found significant shortages of critical medical equipment.
According to her, Ghana’s public tertiary health sector had only two functional MRI machines, five mammogram machines and two public radiotherapy machines for cancer treatment.
She further disclosed that the entire northern sector had only two practising cardiologists without the appropriate equipment to adequately serve millions of people.
Ms. Darko-Opoku said the consequences of these shortages were particularly severe for families outside Accra, who often have to travel long distances to access specialised treatment.
She explained that delays in accessing critical medical care could weaken patients, increase treatment costs and push families into financial hardship.
Using the example of a sudden medical emergency, she said even wealthy families could be vulnerable when critical healthcare facilities were not available nearby.
“At 2:00 AM, money cannot buy time. In a medical emergency, your wealth does not save you; the infrastructure nearest to you does,” she said.
Turning her attention to mining companies, Ms. Darko-Opoku urged them to redefine corporate social responsibility by making strategic investments in healthcare infrastructure and specialist services.
She said mining companies could partner the GMTF to identify critical healthcare gaps in their operational areas, provide medical equipment, support the training of specialists and establish facilities that would continue serving communities long after mining activities had ended.
She challenged companies to ensure that their presence in mining communities translated into measurable improvements in the health and wellbeing of residents.
“A true Social License cannot simply mean, ‘The community tolerates our presence.’ It must mean, ‘Because this company operates here, our people live longer, healthier lives,’” she said.
Ms. Darko-Opoku said a mining company that helped establish a cancer centre, cardiac facility or other specialised healthcare infrastructure would leave behind a legacy that went beyond the extraction of minerals.
She maintained that Ghana’s greatest resource was not its gold or other minerals but its people, stressing that protecting their health should therefore be treated as a shared responsibility.
She urged corporate Ghana, particularly the mining industry, to partner with government and health institutions to close critical gaps in healthcare delivery and build a legacy measured not only by minerals extracted but also by lives saved.
