Ghana mining fund to invest $60 mln in 2022 expansion drive
03/03/2022 07:51
By Christian Akorlie and Cooper Inveen
ACCRA, March 3 (Reuters) - The fund responsible for managing
Ghana's mining royalties plans to invest up to $60 million this
year in companies both within and outside the gold-producing
West African nation, its chief executive told Reuters.
The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) bought about $20
million worth of shares last week in the Toronto- and
Frankfurt-listed Asante Gold Corporation ASE.CD , which
operates Ghana's Bibiani Gold Mine.
Ghana, which is Africa's top gold producer, now holds about
3.5% of Asante's total equity. It was MIIF's first major buy
since a 2019 parliamentary vote entrusted it with managing and
investing the entirety of the country's mining royalties.
Edward Koranteng, the fund's chief executive, told Reuters
in an interview on Wednesday that the Asante purchase was only
the first step in a wider push for positions in high-yielding
mines in Ghana and abroad.
"We're looking to cover every class of mineral other than
bauxite, which the government is working on in a different way,"
he said. "We want to go into an accelerated program where we
have assets of over $500 million by 2025."
MIIF has a war chest of $200 million with which it plans to
expand its portfolio, Koranteng said.
By investing in firms with high growth potential and
reviewing the strategies of collecting royalties from smaller
firms, Koranteng said MIIF hoped to "widen (Ghana's) royalty
net" and keep the fund growing.
This year, the fund has particular interest in industrial
salt companies, which Koranteng says could become major
suppliers to the region's numerous gas and oil wells.
Starting in July, MIIF also plans to invest in about 400
small-scale gold mining outfits, in hopes of growing them into
profitable mid-sized firms.
"We believe in adding value to these sectors by formalising
them," Koranteng said. "That way Ghana gains, and we make our
money as well."
(Reporting by Christian Akorlie and Cooper Inveen; Editing by
Bate Felix and Clarence Fernandez)
((cooper.inveen@thomsonreuters.com; +221 78 546 9850;))