Government to submit “improved” Agyapa Royalties Agreement to Parliament

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta has announced that Government will reintroduce an improved Agyapa Royalties Agreement to Parliament for approval.

The restructured agreement has been tailored to ensure the state benefits from it after it is approved.

The Finance Minister revealed this at the inauguration of the Board of Mineral Income Investment Fund in Accra on Tuesday, October 12, 2021.

He revealed that this decision to revise and resubmit the Agreement was reached after a few stakeholder meetings on the subject.

“The Attorney-General has looked at it and we have had a few stakeholder meetings and I think the new board should be energised to review that and then go through the Parliamentary process.”

If the Agreement is approved by Parliament, it will be the second time such a conclusion has been reached after a Corruption Risk Assessment by the former Special Prosecutor flagged the initial Agreement as providing reasonable grounds for suspicion of bid-rigging and corruption.

The assessment showed that the entire transaction was flawed with several occasions for conflict of interest and was deeply marred by infractions.

The Agyapa Minerals Royalties Investment Agreement was approved by Parliament on August 14, 2020, together with some four other related documents. Altogether, these allowed Ghana to monetize its future gold royalties.

It incorporated the Agyapa Mineral Royalties Limited in Jersey to receive and manage royalties from some 16 gold mining leases over the next 15 years.

The firm was also set to be listed on the Ghana and London Stock Exchanges, and was further tasked with raising at least $500 million with which the government will invest in infrastructure, health and education.

Consequently, private individuals would be allowed to buy a 49 per cent in the Agyapa firm.

Nonetheless, in the aftermath of the corruption assessment report, civil society organizations and some citizens called for the deal to be suspended.

The newly constituted board of the Mineral Income Investment Fund has thus been tasked with ensuring that the restructured Agreement is operational and beneficial to Ghanaians.

“I’m unequivocal that it is the way to go in terms of monetizing our minerals and finding a way to leverage it to reduce the level of debt of the country and move it into equity. And with the concerns that were raised we should be able to address them and move forward,” Mr Ofori-Atta added.