Ghanaian press zooms in on $540m oil revenue earned in 6 months, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report by Public Interest and Accountability Com­mittee that Ghana has bagged US$540,456,124 in petroleum revenues in the first half of 2023 is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Public Interest and Accountability Com­mittee (PIAC) has said that Ghana has bagged US$540,456,124 in petroleum revenues in the first half of 2023,
The sources of the revenue are carried and participating interest, US$253,533,067, corporate income tax, US$166,505,263, royalty, US$81,010,863, pe­troleum holding fund income US$2,747,810, and surface rental US$659,118.
Of the amount, US$125,710,650 was transferred to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, US$238,811,220 was used to fund the 2023 bud­get, US$71,643,366 paid into the stabilisation fund, US$30,704,299 paid into the Ghana Heritage Fund.
According to the PIAC, the amount channeled to support the budget, GH¢247,892,184 went into agriculture, GH¢36,351,356 into physical infrastruc­ture in health and education, GH¢1,737,081,340 into roads, GH¢820,008,725 into the Gha­na Infrastructure Investment Fund, GH¢131,005,360 and GH¢2,345,361 into industrialisation.
At the launch of the committee’s 2023 semi-annual report in Accra yesterday, the PIAC said for the fourth consecutive time, the GNPC has failed to pay proceeds from petroleum liftings into the Petroleum Holding Fund in line with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA).
“PIAC reiterates its position that proceeds from liftings of JOHL and any other subsidiary of GNPC constitutes petroleum revenues, and therefore must be paid into the PHF,” the Chair-man of the PIAC, Prof. Kwame Adom-Frimpong said.
“To ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of petroleum revenues, International Oil Companies should be mindful not to pay monies other than petroleum revenues into the PHF.
The Ministry of Finance should comply with the provision in Section 16(4) of the PRMA as amended to release funds to the National Oil Company not later than three working days, after the receipt of petroleum revenue into the PHF,” Prof. Adom-Frimpong added.
The newspaper says that Ghana’s sovereign dollar bonds dropped sharply on Tuesday after a government presentation of debt rework scenarios that aimed for a haircut of 30 per cent to 40 per cent on the principal disappointed investors.
Some bonds fell to their lowest level in three months, with the 2061 issue down as much as 2.9 cents on the dollar to 38.9 cents, Tradeweb data showed.
The bonds later recovered some ground, though were still down between 1.5 cents and 2.5 cents on the dollar.
Ghana is in talks with bilateral and commercial creditors to restructure its debts during its worst economic crisis in a generation, having been locked out of international capital markets as it struggles with spiralling domestic debt costs.
Apart from the haircut, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, also told investors the government was aiming for a coupon of no more than 5 per cent and a final maturity of not more than 20 years on bonds that would be issued as part of the rework for its $13 billion of outstanding international notes.
While exact details were still missing, Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients it had calculated a recovery value of $38 versus the current average price of $44 on the bonds.
“In our view, this proposal is unlikely to be accepted by the bondholders as the ultimate recovery value would be extremely low compared to history,” Morgan Stanley’s Neville Z Mandimika said.
The Graphic reports that farmers affected by the devastation caused by the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams are to benefit from a $40 million food systems resilience programme.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Bryan Acheampong, who announced this, said a World Bank funded programme has been restructured by the government “to fully restore friends, brothers and families on the Volta and Eastern stretch of the Akosombo Dam’s path, whose farms have been wiped out due to the necessary action taken by the Volta River Authority (VRA) to save us all”.
Dr Acheampong said this when he addressed a presidential conference on youth in agriculture in Accra on Wednesday [Oct 18, 2023].
The conference was organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in collaboration with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).
Last Monday when President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo toured the flooded areas in the Volta Region, he announced that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) would work on a long-term relief programme for farmers affected by the floods.
The President said he was aware many farms along the Volta River had been destroyed by the floods, for which reason a relief programme needed to be set up to restore the livelihood of the people.
But in the meantime, he said, the inter-ministerial committee formed to look at the flood situation through the National Disaster Management Organisation, the VRA and other agencies were providing relief items as a short term measure for the flood victims.
The newspaper says that the government has granted Barari DV Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Limited, a 15-year Mining Lease to commence the construction and mining of lithium at Ewoyaa in the Mfantseman area of the Central Region of Ghana.
The Lease incorporates new and enhanced terms intended to ensure that the country benefits, optimally, from this mineral.
This includes an increase in royalty rate, State and Ghanaian participation, as well as value addition to the mineral mined.
The granting of the Mining Lease follows the completion of prospecting and feasibility studies by the company, as well as series of negotiations between Government and the Company. The Lease covers an area of approximately 42.63 square kilometres, and grants the company the exclusive right to work and produce lithium and associated minerals in the area, in accordance with the mining laws of the country.
Lithium is one of the main minerals used in the production of lithium-ion batteries, which is being promoted as a substitute for fossil fuels, as the world continues to battle with climate change. Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels by the internal combustion engines have been identified as one of the major contributors to the climate crisis. To deal with this, global leaders are promoting a green energy transition, to progressively limit, and ultimately, eliminate carbon emissions.
Already, some countries have passed laws to phase out vehicles that use fossil fuels. This has created an emerging market for the battery industry, and minerals required for the production of batteries, referred to as green minerals or critical minerals.
Currently, African countries that are mining lithium export the mineral in its raw state.
Barari Ltd. commenced exploration for lithium in the country in 2017 and discovered high grade lithium in commercial quantities in Ewoyaa. Geological investigations, also, show deposits in various parts of the country, from the south to the north, predominantly around Cape Coast, Kumasi, Sunyani, Bole and Wa. However, the country is yet to commence the mining of this mineral.
GIK/APA