He mentioned that the Ministry of Finance relied on advice from international consultancies and financial institutions for due diligence before the London Stock Exchange IPO, which is now suspended.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Koranteng said did due diligence, Mr Koranteng said per his understanding, the Ministry of Finance procured the services of international consultancy and companies and financial institutions that have done this in the past and that the advice provided was what Ministry of Finance stood on.
He said "We started with the Ministry of Finance and from the documents that we have, it is clear that the correct advice was provided on the set-up of a gold royalties company where the streaming of the royalties would benefit Ghana."
In 2018, Parliament of Ghana passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund 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 fund is supposed to manage and invest these royalties and revenue from equities for higher returns for the benefit of the country.
The law allows the fund to establish Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to use for the appropriate investments. Last month, the government introduced an amendment to the act to ensure that the SPVs have unfettered independence.
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The approval will enable the country to use a special purpose vehicle, Agyapa Royalties Limited to secure 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, which are expected to be raised from the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), will be a long-term capital, without a corresponding increase in Ghana’s total debt stock and hence without a public debt repayment obligation.
Some said the deals are valued for money whiles others referred to it that it's a stinking and corrupt deal by the government where appointees of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are engaged to do.
The Agyapa Royalties deal is part of the current government’s strategy to beat the long-standing problem of lack of capital for developmental projects.