It has emerged that the government spent $12 million on the suspended Agyapa royalties deal. The CEO of the Minerals Income Investment Fund, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, disclosed this at a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Sitting.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ordered the suspension of the Agyapa deal following a public outcry in 2021.
The government proposed the deal to raise funds through mineral royalties for key infrastructure projects but was eventually suspended after the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and some civil society organisations opposed it.
However, according to the CEO of the Minerals Income Investment Fund, 12 million dollars was expended on the processes to issue the initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange before the suspension.
Responding to whether the Fund did due diligence, Mr Koranteng said “My understanding honourable chair is that the Ministry of Finance procured the services of international consultancy and companies and financial institutions that have done this in the past and that the advice provided was what Ministry of Finance stood on.”
“We started with the Ministry of Finance and from the documents that we have, it is clear that the correct advice was provided on the set-up of a gold royalties company where the streaming of the royalties would benefit Ghana.”
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In another story, the Ghana Gas Company is in the final stages of acquiring Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company Limited.
In April 2023, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo approved the acquisition of the cylinder manufacturer, which has been struggling to operate for years. The company incurred a GH4 million loss in 2021.
According to the Auditor General’s estimation, the current financial position of the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company makes it incapable of meeting its short-term obligations.
Genevieve Sackey, Managing Director of the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company Limited, disclosed the imminent acquisition at a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sitting in Accra on Tuesday.
“We are in the process of an acquisition. At the moment, we are in the final stages. The document is with the Ministry of Finance to be forwarded to the cabinet. So we are hoping that by the end of the first quarter, it would be acquired by Ghana Gas,” she stated.
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