In a critique of the Agyapa Deal, Bright Simons, the Honorary Vice President of IMANI Africa, underscored the Government’s undervaluation of the controversial agreement during a recent discussion on the X Space platform by Ghana Crimes.
According to Mr Simons, the government’s assertion of a $1 billion valuation for the Agyapa Deal grossly undersells its true worth. He argued that a thorough evaluation should have pegged the deal between $3.5 billion and $4 billion, casting doubt on the government’s appraisal methods.
Of particular concern to him, was the nature of the valuation, which he contended was not tied to a fixed quantity of gold or a specific timeframe.
Instead, the valuation purportedly rested on Agyapa’s entitlement to ongoing royalties from the mining operations across Ghana’s most lucrative concessions, totaling 48 in number.
Moreover, Mr Simons scrutinized the intended capital infusion of $500 million from investors, cautioning that this figure might also be unjustly discounted or misrepresented within the deal’s framework.
Perhaps most damning was Mr Simons’ censure of the decision to domicile Agyapa in Jersey, a jurisdiction synonymous with financial opacity and its status as a tax haven. Such a choice, he argued, flies in the face of transparency and integrity, casting suspicion over the deal’s credibility.
In dissecting the Agyapa Deal during the discussion, Bright Simons underscored the myriad flaws that mar its conception, from undervaluation to opaque structuring, serving as a clarion call for greater scrutiny and accountability in Ghana’s financial dealings.