Community Engagement and Social Licence to Operate the Ewoyaa Lithium Mining Project, Ghana

Abstract

The global push for renewable energy technologies has intensified lithium demand, positioning Ghana’s Ewoyaa Lithium Mining Project (ELMP) at the forefront of a lithium extraction hub. Whereas attention is often paid to the socio-economic and environmental impacts of such projects on local communities, the question of how traditional leaders of such indigenous communities permit mining companies into their space for extractive activities remains underexplored in Ghana. This study sought to understand how Atlantic Lithium Ltd. gained social acceptance to undertake the ELMP through the lens of the Social Licence to Operate theory.  Using a qualitative case study design, the research purposively engaged 11 participants – traditional leaders, youth, women, and committee representatives. Strict ethical traditional community protocols were adhered to for data collection. Through group interviews, data were sourced and thematically analysed after transcription. Findings revealed that trust reposed in Atlantic Lithium Ltd. by community leaders has given the Company a social licence to operate the ELMP. Though community engagement was largely consultative rather than participatory, it was deemed to be of high-quality and procedurally fair. The   community was optimistic about socio-economic impacts, but was sceptical about environmental concerns. The study recommends that the Government and the UN press upon mining multinationals to ensure that communities are participatorily engaged in key decision-making, regarding mineral resource extractions. Again, mining companies are mandated to comply with indigenous knowledge systems for ecological resource management purposes. Mining companies and local communities are to design workable policy documents to give preeminence to indigenes for recruitment into the mining companies.