The government worked fully with Parliament on the Agyapa – Ofori-Atta agreement

Finance Minister candidate Ken Ofori-Atta said the administration of President Akufo-Addo’s first term had worked hand-in-hand with the 7th Parliament on all the details regarding the Agyapa Gold Royalties deal.

He told Parliament’s Appointments Committee during its review on Thursday that the collaboration led to the passage of the Minerals Income and Investment Law of 2018 (Law 978) and its subsequent amendment law. , the Minerals Income and Investment Act 2020 (Law 1024). .

Citing Article Three of the Minerals Income and Investment Law, as amended on March 25, Ofori-Atta noted that the government, through the Ministry of Finance, has remained within the limits the law at every stage of efforts to establish Agyapa as a “Special Purpose Vehicle” for the purpose of monetizing the country’s gold reserves by targeting both the London and Ghana stock exchanges.

Section 3 of the MIIF law

Section 3 of the Minerals Income and Investments Act 2018 (Act 978) states the following: The Fund may (a) “create and hold interests in a special purpose vehicle in any jurisdiction in the pursuit of its objects, and the special-purpose vehicle will be free to operate as an ordinary trading company; (b) “obtain the listing of the special purpose vehicle on any reputable stock exchange it deems appropriate”.

Section 3 (a) and (b) of Law 978 has been amended by the Mining Income and Investments (Amendment) Law 2020, (Law 1024) as follows; (a) “hold, directly or indirectly, interests in a special purpose vehicle in any jurisdiction in the pursuit of the objects of the fund, and each special purpose vehicle will operate as a regular trading company” and (b) “procure the listing of a special-purpose vehicle on any reputable stock exchange the council deems appropriate ”.

“I think one thing I should note is that really the basis of this transaction was a law passed and debated in depth and we have not rarely strayed from the decrees of this law,” Ofori-Atta said.

“If you look at the powers of the fund that this august House has adopted, Law 978, article three (3), the fund can create and hold an interest in a special-purpose vehicle, obtain the registration of the special-purpose vehicle in any stock exchange, assign or transfer the rights to its mining revenues.

“The challenge for all of us is that when you look at the new normal in which there seems to be a bit of debt from all countries, what do we do with our natural resources to turn them into equity,” added the candidate of the Minister of Finances.

Reintroduction of Agyapa

Ken Ofori-Atta further indicated that the president’s intention to reintroduce the Agyapa agreement before Parliament will certainly be implemented if he gets the green light to become finance minister.

He said reintroducing the deal before the House will give Members of the 8th Legislature the opportunity to take a second look at the deal and allay any doubts about sanity.

“I think that’s a question we have to face. As to how that is mobilized, the issues we face, I think that’s why the president wants us to submit so that if there are issues around him he can be dealt with. .

“But philosophically, we’re all going to come to terms with the reality of diversifying the way we capitalize and finance our transformation, which we intend to do,” Mr. Ofori-Atta said.

Context

In 2018, Parliament passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act 2018, which establishes the fund to manage Ghana’s stakes in mining companies and receive royalties on behalf of the government.

The purpose of the Fund is to manage and invest these royalties and equity income for higher returns for the benefit of the country.

The government then created, through the Minerals Income Investments Fund (MIIF), Agyapa Royalties Ltd to monetize Ghana’s gold royalties.

This was after Parliament approved the Agyapa Mineral Royalty Ltd deal on behalf of the government of Ghana on August 14, 2020, despite the withdrawal of minority members from the House.

In return, the company plans to raise between $ 500 million and around $ 1 billion for the government on the Ghana and London stock exchanges to invest in development projects.

However, the deal has become a hot topic of debate after concerns expressed first by the opposition Democratic National Congress, ahead of the December 2020 general election.

Growing dissent

On August 14, a few days after approving an amendment to the MIIF law, the minority withdrew during the approval process of the very transaction agreements, of which the amendment to the Fund’s statutes was amended.

Civil society groups quickly raised their voices in the opposition, describing the then created Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Agyapa Royalties of Jersey, as opaque, potentially corrupt and undervalued.

They insisted the deal must be put on hold to allow for greater stakeholder involvement, some of the dissenting voices said. However, the government insisted that the deal was in Ghana’s best interest.

Last year, the President ordered the Minister of Finance and the Attorney General to review the settlement agreements and make the necessary adjustments to address some of the concerns raised by stakeholders, if any.