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The Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) has described as unfortunate the government’s position to maintain some modalities involved in the agreement with Agyapa Minerals Royalties Limited.
Benjamin Boakye explained that it would be a futile exercise if the government stands firm in its stance of withholding valuable information about the agreement even after a meeting with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
“Even though the ministry agreed to consult, the gist of it all is that they will consult but will not change course and we do not believe it is in good faith,” he told Evans Mensah on Tuesday.
This is due to calls from a group of CSOs that reiterated their demand on Tuesday for the government to suspend implementation of the agreement.
This, according to CSOs, is because the government is manipulating the data available through the Ministry of Finance.
“In our last meeting with the Ministry, some slides were presented that contained some data.”
“However, when we requested copies, those particular slides we are interested in were deliberately or inadvertently omitted,” said a spokesman for the group, Dr. Steve Manteaw.
The new agreement is expected to allow the country to use a special purpose vehicle (SPV), Agyapa Royalties Limited, to secure around $ 1 billion to finance infrastructure projects.
CSOs suspect that no figures are being reported for annual income earned from gold royalties.
The $ 150 million quote by the Deputy Finance Minister at the meeting was found to be actually $ 200 million after independent checks by CSOs.
To this end, they are contesting the modality by which the government arrived at its valuation of $ 1 billion of the total transaction.
Sekondi Member of Parliament Andrew Egyapa Mercer has rejected claims that the government is misrepresenting figures on the valuation of the transaction.
According to him, the inability to access the full data and the assumptions is due to some regulatory guidelines surrounding the approval mechanisms of the regulatory institutions involved in the transaction.
“The ministry says that the information we use for the valuation is necessary if we provide it to a certain regulatory authority for approval. So yes, we show it to you, but we can’t make copies available, “he said in Joy FM main story.
But Benjamin Boakye wouldn’t accept any of that.
He further believes that the government should demonstrate its much touted transparency by using a “welcome perspective on what is expected. [returns on royalties] and answer pertinent questions about how it valued assets and what other options were available before the ministry decided to go public.
Parliament approved the Agyapa deal in August to allow the government to monitor future gold royalties in exchange for a lump sum of US $ 500 million to invest in development projects. Agyapa Minerals Royalties Limited has been established as the special purpose vehicle through which monetization will take place.
The government says it will float 49% of the company’s shares to raise $ 1 billion, of which $ 500 million will be invested in health, education, infrastructure and other development initiatives.
The rest of the money will continue to be Agyapa’s operating capital.
