Agyapa deal: focus on valuation, not corruption angle

Politics of Tuesday October 6, 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2020-10-06

IMANI Ghana President Franklin Cudjoe has suggested that Special Counsel Martin Amidu focus more on assessing Agyapa’s controversial royalty deal, rather than just looking at the corruption aspect.

According to him, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have proven, on several occasions, the real value of royalties, setting it between $ 2.5 billion and $ 3.5 billion.

Taking to his Facebook page to make his presentation on the subject, Franklin Cudjoe said, “I sincerely hope that the Office of the Special Prosecutor is focused on the valuation of AGYAPA royalties. That’s the bigger issue, not the ‘corruption’ angle that seems to be interested because, frankly, you could just approve the deal if you were handed the documents that you claim you haven’t had. You should talk about the technical question of valuation. CSOs have demonstrated tremendous technical competence to demonstrate that the true value of royalties for the assets under consideration is between $ 2.5 billion and $ 3.5 billion, not the $ 1 billion proposed and contracted by the Ministry of Finance. I’m looking at SP paaaa … He can get there ”.

His comments come after the Ministry of Finance announced on Monday, October 5, 2020, the suspension of the launch of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the Agyapa Royalty agreement.

In a letter signed by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Charles Adu-Boahen and addressed to the Office of the Special Prosecutor, he noted that the decision was the result of the Office of the Special Prosecutor having completed a pending corruption risk assessment.

“The Ministry does not intend to proceed with the IPO prior to the results of its office’s corruption risk assessment. The international investor community has been closely monitoring the outcome of the current status of the transaction and therefore it would be detrimental to proceed without receiving the necessary approvals and the green light from your office, ”the letter read.

Before approving the Agyapa Royalties transaction, Parliament passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Act 2018 in 2018, which establishes the Fund to manage Ghana’s equity interests in mining companies and receive royalties on behalf of the government. .

The purpose of the fund is to manage and invest these royalties and stock income to obtain higher returns for the benefit of the country and the government through the MIIF.

Agyapa Royalties Limited, in return, aims to raise between $ 500 million and $ 750 million for the Government on the Ghana and London stock exchanges for development and infrastructure projects.

Read his Facebook post below.