The Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal doesn’t Serve the best interest of Ghana – John Dumelo

Ghanaians Actor turned Politician John Dumelo has reacted to the controversial Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal.

Responding to a question from a follower on Twitter about what he thinks about the Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal, the National Democratic Congress’s Parliamentary candidate for the Ayawaso west constituency, John Dumelo indicated that the deal is not in the best interest of Ghana.

In a tweet, John Dumelo said;

It is shrouded in so much secrecy and doesn’t serve the best interest of Ghana.
The $1 billion valuation amounts to an undervaluation of Ghana’s resources by over 65%.

ALSO READ: I’ll fix challenges of premix fuel shortage and supply it directly to Fishers – John Mahama

About the Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal

The Parliament of Ghana approved five agreements On Friday, August 14, 2020, to allow the country to derive maximum value from it’s mineral resources and monetise it’s mineral income accruing to the state in a sustainable and responsible manner.

That would be by allowing the MIIF, created by Act 978 of 2018, to incorporate a subsidiary/subsidiaries and use them as SPVs to engage in pure commercial private sector transactions to maximise the mineral royalties from the 12 gold mines, with four penciled to come on stream in the medium term.

The approval covered the Minerals Royalties Agreement, the Amended and Restated Minerals Royalties Investment Agreement and the relationship agreement among the government, the MIIF, Agyapa Royalties Limited and ARG Royalties Ghana.

The rest are the assignment agreement between the MIIF and Agyapa Royalties for the assignment of the right of the fund to Agyapa to receive the royalty value due from ARG under the investment agreement for the acquisition of the allocated minerals royalties from the fund in consideration for shares to be issued by Agyapa to the fund at an agreed price of $1 billion.

The approval was to enable the country to use Agyapa Royalties as an SPV to secure about $1 billion and leverage to finance mines in Ghana and across Africa.

The yields accruing could also be used to finance large infrastructural projects by the MIIF.

By that agreement, Agyapa, which will operate as an independent private sector entity, will be able to raise funds from the capital market, both locally and internationally, as an alternative to the conventional debt capital market transactions.

The funds, which are expected to be raised from the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) through initial public offers (IPOs), will be a long-term capital, without a corresponding increase in Ghana’s total debt stock, and hence without a public debt repayment obligation.

SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh