Lands Minister lays lithium deal before Parliament

By Kizito CUDJOE

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has presented the country’s maiden lithium agreement with Barari DV Ghana Limited to Parliament for consideration and ratification, more than two years after it was first signed.

Government, in 2023, signed its inaugural lithium mining lease with Barari DV Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium, to develop the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in the Central Region. However, the agreement was not ratified by Parliament before both the legislature and the previous administration were dissolved following the 2024 General Elections.

Eleven months into the current administration, the Lands Minister has brought what he described as a “revised deal” back to Parliament for approval during the 13th sitting of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 9th Parliament.

Mr. Buah explained that at the time the initial agreement was signed, the global price of lithium stood at about US$3,000 per tonne but has since dropped to around US$630, putting the project’s viability at risk.

“The company appealed that if they were to go forward, certain key provisions must be looked at,” he told the House.

He added that three key areas of the deal had, therefore, been reviewed – the royalty rate adjustment, VAT deferral on capital inputs and feasibility of the Saltpond transshipment facility – all with Cabinet’s approval.

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, subsequently referred the ‘new lease’ to the Parliament Select Committee on Lands and Forestry for consideration and presented back to the House.

But the Minority in Parliament, expressed strong reservations about the revised agreement, describing it as ‘a bad deal’, at best, that fails to serve the national interest.

Reacting to the motion on the floor of Parliament, the former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in the erstwhile President Akufo-Addo administration, Samuel Abu Jinapor, maintained that what has been presented by the current minister is fundamentally not different from what he submitted to the 8^th Parliament.

He, therefore, prayed the Speaker of Parliament to overrule and reject the laying. “What applied to that agreement in the 8^th Parliament which fortunately was the same Speaker in the chair and which culminated in the rejection of the agreement, the same should apply,” he stated.

This, the leader of the Majority side in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, disputed; stating that the 8^th Parliament did not reject the agreement but that it never came back from the committee level for discussions before the life of the legislative body ended.

In contrast to this position, the Minority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, said the attempts to present the deal for submission during the 8^th Parliament was blocked by the Minority group then.

He also noted that the agreement in its current form is worse than it was initially agreed, citing the royalty rate which has been lowered compared to the initial 10 percent royalty that was agreed by the government then.

But reacting these developments, Mr. Buah told journalists that the royalty rate of the agreement has been pegged at a ‘scale of 5 percent’ which allows it to increase with the price of lithium on the global market.

“There is nothing that is changing. We are simply trying to take advantage of the project that the community has been yearning for, especially taking into account the fact that land has been acquired, people’s livelihoods have been affected, farms have been destroyed.”

He, therefore, said the decision that the government has taken to peg the royalty at a level which can be adjusted to correspond with the increase of lithium on the world market is what is prudent.

It would be recalled that the General Manager of Operations, Atlantic Lithium Limited, Ahmed Salim Adam, disclosed that while the company is yet to commence operations, it continues to meet its tax obligations, paying about GH?19million last year.

Speaking in Accra on the sidelines of the maiden Africa Extractives Media Fellowship training, he expressed optimism that the lithium lease agreement would be ratified by the end of the year, paving the way for the company’s board to review investment decisions and begin construction.

But he added: “It will take about 18 to 24 months of construction before production begins”.

He also noted that the government holds a 13 percent free-carried interest in the project, with provision for the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) to participate—an investment decision he expects soon.

According to him, the deal differs from previous mining agreements as it allocates one percent of revenue for community development, with local representatives determining investment priorities.

Mr. Adam also commended the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, for his leadership and experience in the mining sector.

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