Lithium deal: Ghana is more to gain

Lands and Natural Resources Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor has insisted that the Lithium deal that Ghana signed with Barari DV Ghana Limited is the best the country can get. He told Bloomberg that the government under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo has secured the best option for the country. This is contrary to what the masses perceive in Ghana where calls for the deal to be trashed have intensified.

According to MP for Damongo, the president decided that Ghana treats Lithium differently from what the trend has been and thus has worked hard to secure this agreement for Ghana.

“Green minerals, lithium, energy transition, and all of that, our president and his government have insisted that we treat these minerals differently from other minerals in the past, which is why we have come up with a policy on the management, exploitation, and utilization of the green minerals of our country, including lithium.”

Per the current arrangement which has received mass resistance from Ghanaians, the country will earn 13 per cent royalties from the deal. Also, the government will own a 30 per cent stake in Atlantic Lithium, the parent company of Barari DV Ghana Limited. That is what Samuel Abu Jinapor thinks makes the Lithium deal the best for the country.

“We have signed some deals with Atlantic Lithium, but we have done all of that in a manner that is fundamentally different from what we did in the past and most importantly, the remarkable difference between what we did in the past and what we are doing now is that we are retaining the highest end of the value chain as much as possible.”

Public outcry against the Lithium deal

Several people have called for the deal to be cancelled. Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo who has been outspoken against the deal said it is not the best. She said even if it is better than others, we could still have more as a country.

“This deal is not the best for Ghana,” Sophia Akuffo noted, adding, “It is like percentages, what is the base figure? If you are from some super miserable formulation to this then we will say that is the best Ghana has had. Yes, maybe it is but it is not the best Ghana could have had.”

The Minority in Parliament has expressed strong resentment against the deal and threatened to do whatever is within its means to ensure the deal does not go through.

John Jinapor, a member of the Mine and Energy Committee of Parliament said the opposition lawmakers will be on their feet against the bill. He said they will seek the advice of all well-meaning Ghanaians including Madam Sophia Akuffo on how to go about it.

“Let me assure the people of Ghana that the Minority will not let you down, we will scrutinize the agreement, we will not allow this agreement to be rushed through. We will seek the guidance and the involvement of civil society, and we will speak to important personalities including former Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Akuffo who has been vocal on this Lithium agreement.

The new order is lithium. Lithium is more profitable than gold, lithium is more profitable than diamond and the world order is moving to this green mineral. So, the Minority will insist that Ghana benefits from these resources and that the terms and agreement, if they are not in the interest of Ghana, the Minority will kick against that,” John Jinapor said about the Lithium deal.

Meanwhile, Professor Ransford Gyampo, a lecturer at the University of Ghana has said Ghanaians do not trust Parliament to throw out the Lithium deal. He wants John Mahama to promise that he will cancel the deal if given the mandate.

“We don’t trust Parliament. People are hungry and so they will succeed in buying everybody. The history of this Parliament is a Parliament that barks but does not act. I do not trust Parliament,” he noted.