Policy think-tank, IMANI Africa has presented a detailed justification for its opposition to the controversial Agyapa Royalties deal.
In a 17-page document, IMANI Africa among other things cited the level of what it calls “information-hiding” of the 4-month timeline to the Initial Public Offering (IPO), and the claim that dividends will seamlessly substitute for royalties.
The Agyapa Royalties deal has become a topical subject for public discussion after members of the opposition and some CSO’s sounded caution over it.
IMANI, which is among the CSO’s against the deal stated in a document that the degree of information-hiding has been so intense that, per the official record, it took the Ministry of Finance more than a year to share the full set of agreements with the Government’s own Attorney General following an initial request for legal review in January 2019.
Unsurprisingly, the final agreement ratified by Parliament defies many pieces of advice offered by the Attorney General, including a suggestion that the Investment Agreement be limited to a fixed term of 30 years.
IMANI further contended that the government’s plans of leveraging Ghana’s mineral royalties to secure about 1 billion dollars is an undervaluation of the country’s mineral resources.
IMANI further indicated that there is a case to be made for diversifying the country’s sovereign wealth strategy and acquiring some geo-economic influence, but that should not be pursued at the high cost of valuing 75% of all of Ghana’s future royalties at 30% of their true value.
The 1 billion dollars valuation of these massive resource entitlements is unwarranted and amounts to undervaluing Ghana’s resources by over 65%.
Government has defended strongly the Agyapa agreement, which it says it is in the best interest of the country.
