Agyapa Royalties Deal Being Prepared For Listing On London Stock Exchange – MIIF Reveals

• CEO of the Minerals Income Investment Fund has said there are plans to list the Agyapa Royalties deal on the London Stock Exchange and the Ghana Stock Exchange
• Nana Yaw Koranteng said the MIIF is restrategising to list the controversial deal because of the many successes being chalked by his outfit
• MIIF was recently recognised by Forbes Monaco for its acquisition of over 14 million shares and a roughly 4.65% stake in Asante Gold Corporation

The controversial Agyapa Royalties deal is being prepared for re-listing on London Stock Exchange (LSE) by the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF).

The MIIF is a government agency created by Parliament with the mandate to maximise the value of dividend and royalty income accruing to Ghana.

According to a report by Asaase News, MIIF is re-strategising its approach to listing the deal on the LSE and the Ghana Stock Exchange after his outfit was named the best financial institution in the mining sector by the French-based publication Forbes Monaco.

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MIIF was recognised by Forbes Monaco for its acquisition of over 14 million shares and a roughly 4.65% stake in Asante Gold Corporation, a Canadian- and Frankfurt-listed gold production company that operates in Ghana.

The chief executive officer of MIIF, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, told reporters after the award that the recognition is a significant motivation.

“We are determined to build Africa’s biggest minerals fund with $500 million assets under management by 2025 and $1 billion by 2027. We have an exciting pipeline of projects and a plan to realise our mission of investing for Ghana’s future,” Mr Koranteng is quoted in the report.

Mr Koranteng said that MIIF’s $20 million investment in Asante Gold will certainly see an uptick after the pouring of first gold in the third quarter of this year.

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He said the early successes of MIIF will positively impact the Agyapa Gold Royalties. Agyapa is a gold royalties company that is 100% owned by the Minerals Income Investment Fund.

“Our intention is to list up to 49% of Agyapa on the London Stock Exchange and the Ghana Stock Exchange. We envisage raising between $450 million and $700 million from the IPO, which proceeds shall be directed at investing in infrastructure and other social amenities, particularly in the mining communities,” Asaase News quoted the MIIF boss.

The Agyapa deal, which has been flagged by a Transparency International report as controversial, is government's strategy to finance key infrastructure projects.

In August 2020, the government proposed to sell the majority of its future gold royalties from mining leases to an offshore company, Agyapa Royalties Ltd, which was registered in the secretive British Crown Dependency of Jersey in the British Islands. Under the deal, the government would sell almost half of the shares of this company through public offering and keep 51% stake.

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The deal was lauded by government as an innovative financing solution to help ease the country’s debt crisis, but experts said the valuation of Ghana’s gold reserves were much lower than what they are worth.

The opposition NDC and civil society groups criticised the deal, and in November 2020 the special prosecutor released a report outlining suspected incidences of rigging and corruption, including opening doors for illicit financial flows and money laundering. Millions of dollars had already been paid out to companies without legally required approvals.

The transaction advisor on the project Imara Corporate Finance is a South African company, and payments were made without the legally required parliamentary approval for transactions between the state and foreign entities. Databank Financial Services is a company founded by the finance minister of Ghana, and procurement laws were ignored in the selection process.

President Nana Akufo-Addo instructed authorities to review the transaction documents and return the proposal back to the parliament for approval. The Agyapa deal stalled as the public turned against the deal in the leadup to December 2020 general elections.

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Four Ghanaian Companies Listed Among FT’s Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies 2022

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported in separate story that some four Ghanaian companies have been recorded in the inaugural annual ranking of Africa’s fastest-growing companies compiled by Financial Times (FT).

The ranking by the New York-based leading global business publication provides a snapshot of the corporate landscape in a continent where technology, fintech, and support-service businesses have had to adapt to a radically altered environment.

In the ranking cited by YEN.com.gh, IT Consortium Ltd, a local fintech company was ranked in 17th position with an ‘absolute growth rate of 271.4% and a ‘compound growth rate’ of 54.9%. In 2020, the company made a total revenue of $4.6 million, according to the report.

The three other Ghanaian companies cited in the report include: ZEN Petroleum Ltd, an Energy company, at ranked at number 29 Landtours Ghana Ltd, a travel and leisure company, ranked at 46 Popular food and beverage company, Benso Oil Palm Plantation Ltd, ranked 70th.

Source: YEN.com.gh