The Executive Director of the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ben Boakye has really equipped causes President John Dramani Mahama have to not dissatisfy on the Mineral Income Investment Fund (MIIF).
He mentioned that the MIIF was produced to advertise the Agyapa Royalty Investments– an concept masterminded by earlier Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and his Deputy Charles Adu Boahen to market Ghana’s gold nobilities on the London Stock Exchange.
At the second the MIIF Act was handed, he said, Parliament was not conscious of actual targets behind it– the Agyapa buy.
However, the enrollers and their many allies, consisting of attorneys and financial designers, understood particularly what they had been doing: valuing Ghana’s nobilities from the 48 most encouraging mining giving ins at $1 billion and unloading 51% of that value on the securities marketplace for round $500 million.
“We wrote a paper to highlight the distinctiveness of state royalties, arguing that it was unconscionable to treat them like any royalty streaming business. We also pointed out the flaws in assuming definite numbers for mineral deposits, including those still under exploration—the fact that the investor position and the state position are different in natural resource valuation; Investors have time limits to mineral deposits and states maintain perpetual ownership,” he said.
Ben Boakye much more talked about thatMr Ofori-Atta minimized any sort of argument to ideological resistance, revealing his resolution to press the technique forward regardless of the arguments.
“Thankfully, Ghanaians unified to resist the appliance of the Agyapa buy– probably conserved by the political election bells in 2020. Since this system was aborted, Ghana has really gotten $1.08 billion in nobilities, of which 80% ($ 865.5 million) would definitely have been certain within the Agyapa promote merely 4 years et cetera of Ghana’s gold nobilities . This starkly highlights the dangerous judgment that entered into the selection to market Ghana’s gold nobilities.
With Agyapa aborted, MIIF, the papa of Agyapa, stored management over the sources for its monetary funding as a substitute of straight development expense of that important share of Ghana’s gold sources, he said.
“The royalties paid by gold-producing companies are now declared as revenue for MIIF—no effort required. MIIF’s executives are free to hold press conferences to tout their “stellar” effectivity when the straight initiatives of gold producers produce the nobilities. While the federal authorities annihilated the monetary investments of individuals and out of doors monetary establishments with hairstyles, MIIF continues to be a well-off entity with billions of cedis in cash books. It funds establishment get-togethers, political events, the constructing and development of astroturfs, politically hooked up small mining procedures, and quite a few different monetary investments, apart from the massive administration bills.
“Civil tradition firms (CSOs) that combated versus the Agyapa provide anticipate that the John Dramani Mahama (JDM) federal authorities will definitely reverse this unfavorable circumstance and maximize cash for development. Prior to present consultations at MIIF, some concessions had been advisable by main numbers within the judgment federal authorities: one, a merging of MIIF and the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) to enhance the funds and develop an additional deliberate development fund; and a couple of, topping the entire allotment to MIIF/GIIF at an optimum amount (e.g., $5 billion), after which all nobilities would definitely change to the nationwide spending plan. In significance, to cope with allotment to the funds as fairness of the state. The current circumstance– the place insufficient funds draw away sources from the nationwide allocate non-compulsory misuse by firms– lodges inequality and disregards the fundamental difficulties encountering the nation: dangerous water system, inadequate establishments, a having a tough time medical care system, whereas MIIF continues to be considerable and negligent.
“As we examine the books of MIIF, the nation would be left wondering if this was/is a sovereign wealth fund or financial banditry with zero risk appetite hitherto possible in sci-fi movies. The blessings of natural resources must be spent to improve lives — love your people.”
Why President Mahama Should Not Disappoint on MIIF
1.The Mineral Income Investment Fund (MIIF) was produced to advertise the Agyapa Royalty Investments– an concept masterminded by Ken Ofori-Atta and Adu Boahen to market Ghana’s gold nobilities on the London Stock Exchange …
— Benjamin Boakye (@benboakye) January 22, 2025
