Honorary Vice President of think tank, IMANI Africa, Bright Simons has argued that the money being received by government for the Agyapa Minerals Royalties agreement isn’t enough.

This, he said, is because all of the nation's most valuable resources for further prospecting in addition to 100% of gold productions are contained in the deal.

Speaking on news analysis show Newsfile Saturday, he said the valuation can be improved to benefit the country better.

"They have the optional mining licences in the agreement which purports to grant this structure the capacity to actually get more. So, to give it away at $1 billion valuation is problematic, too little," he told host, Samson Ayenini.

Mr Simons is a member of the 15 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that have kicked against the Agyapa Minerals Royalties deal.

He reiterated that the deal undermines the value of Ghana’s mining royalties by over 65%.

According to him, the choice to deal with the public Stocks Market rather than directly with the private was the fundamental flaw of the agreement.

"The worst thing you can do is to lock your royalties in a transaction where you more or less get all your money upfront and there is no other fiscal room.

"But that money that you get is far less than the money you get if you had gone to any of the hundreds of gold streaming companies in the world," he said.

This comes as the debate on whether or not the Agyapa Minerals Royalties deal will benefit the country rages on.

Some economic experts and the former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper have kicked against the deal.

Backround

Parliament August 14th approved the Agyapa Mineral Royalty Limited agreement with the government of Ghana despite a walkout by the Minority.

Two years ago, the house 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 government.

The fund is supposed to manage and invest these royalties and revenue from equities for higher returns for the benefit of the country.