Kofi Ahovi

 A group of 24 civil society organisations (CSOs) have called for a national discourse on the Agyapa Royalties deal. The CSOs, which work in the extractive, anti-corruption and good governance sectors, said the Agyapa deal was not in the interest of the country and, therefore, urged the government to offer more explanation on the deal to the citizenry and why it must be accepted. Addressing a press conference in Accra on May 17, 2022, to react to recent views shared by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, on the need to pursue the Agyapa deal, which was suspended in 2020 prior to the general election, the Spokesperson for the group, Kofi Bentil, demanded that the said revised deal be put before Parliament for the people to get its full details. The CSOs include the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), the Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana (CDD-Ghana), the Centre for Extractives and Development Africa (CEDA), the Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL), the IMA...

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has called for support for the Agyapa Deal to progress instead of it being abandoned. Responding to a question about the deal at a press briefing in Accra yesterday, the minister described the deal as a “good one” that would help the country to raise resources and reduce its debt exposure. Justifying the deal, he said: “It is not something that the country needs to drop, that is an asset”. The question, Ofori-Atta stated, should not be about whether monetising mineral royalties or listing the company was good or bad. Rather, if you have a problem with the process, let’s articulate that and cure it. Let’s not drop something that will be good for us and help reduce our debt exposure.” The discussion, Ofori-Atta said, should be about the processes involved in negotiating a better deal for the country under the Agyapa proposal. The minister said it was his firm belief that capital markets were fertile sources of equity resources but the country was ...