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Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has tongue-lashed government for planning to bring back the controversial Agyapa deal despite the stiff opposition.
He described the Agyapa Royalties deal as a grand robbery scheme to rip the country off its natural resources amidst the current economic challenges Ghanaians are fraught with.
Kofi Bentil stated that persons against the Agyapa deal will continue to resist any move to approve it.
In a Facebook post sighted by GhanaWeb, he said, “The grand robbery called Agyapa is still being cooked. Every Bandit will be resisted!! You wreck our nation and now want to steal our God given resources. What kind of people are you?”
Kofi Bentil‘s comment comes after the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, disclosed plans to list 49% of Agyapa Royalties on the London Stock Exchange and Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).
This listing on both stock exchanges is expected to raise between US$450 million and US$700 million respectively from the gold royalties.
In a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, the Chief Executive Officer of MIIF, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, said the funds from the listing will be invested into national infrastructure and socio-economic amenities.
He added that special focus will be placed on mining communities across the country.
Before approving the Agyapa Royalties transaction, Parliament in 2018 passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Act 2018 which establishes the Fund to manage the equity interests of Ghana in mining companies and receive royalties on behalf of the government.
The sole purpose of the fund is to manage and invest these royalties and revenue from equities for higher returns for the benefit of the country and government through the MIIF.
In exchange for that, the Agyapa Royalties Limited aims to raise between US$500 million and US$750 million for the Government on the Ghana and London Stock exchange’s intended development projects.
It would be recalled that before the approval of the Agyapa deal in parliament, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the minority called for the suspension of the deal because they said it lacked transparency on the terms of the agreement.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday, March 9, 2022, announced that the Agyapa Royalties transaction would be sent back to parliament for reconsideration.
