Charles Adu Boahen, a Deputy Minister for Finance has indicated that money that will be raised from the Agyapa Royalties deal will go into some key infrastructural projects within the mining communities.

This, the minister indicated, will help create more value along the gold value chain.

“We want to focus on investing in four broad key areas. Primary capital expenditure in education, in health, in housing and infrastructure [generally],” Adu Boahen said at a press conference on Thursday.

He explained that the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) for instance, will be upgraded and a jewellery course will be added to the existing courses in the school to enhance the school’s operation and effectively generate profit out of the gold value chain.

He added that a mineral refinery will be built with the money raised from the Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal to increase the value of the minerals as against being exported in their raw form.

Charles Adu Boahen stated: “COVID-19 has shown us it is important to have health facilities across the length and breadth of the country and especially in these mining areas where these miners are always working at the risk of their lives.”

The Minister hinted that the government is looking at investing in road networks within the mining communities so that more investors will be attracted to these mining communities to grow the mining sector.

Agyapa Minerals Royalties deal

Parliament has approved five agreements to allow the country to derive maximum value from its mineral resources and monetize its mineral income sustainably and responsibly, in line with the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Act of 2018 (Act 978).

The act enables the country to use a Special Purpose Vehicle, Agyapa Royalties Limited as a conduit for securing about $1 billion to finance large infrastructural projects.

In line with that, Agyapa, which will operate as an independent private sector entity, will be able to raise funds from the capital market, both locally and internationally, as an alternative to the conventional debt capital market transactions.

The funds are expected to be raised from the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).