Alex Mould’s affectionate letter to Ofori-Atta on ‘scandalous’ Agyapa Deal
A finance expert and former top government appointee has
scribed a tabloid addressed to his the Finance Minister of Ghana with the
subject being the ‘scandalous’ Agyapa gold royalties deal.
The former Standard Chartered Bank Executive Director and
GNPC CEO, Alex Mould’s letter sought for further explanation on the deal and
also proffered some alternative ways to make the deal better and welcoming.
“Dear Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta (KOA), would you
be as kind as to explain a few things to us on this Agyapa deal?” Mr Mould
quizzed rhetorically in his opening sentence.
Below is the full letter:
A Letter to the Finance Minister
AGYAPA - OFORI-ATTA FLOUNDERS IN MURKY STREAMS OF GOLD
Dear Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta (KOA), would you be
as kind as to explain a few things to us on this Agyapa deal?
To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld - there are some known knowns,
many known unknowns and even unknown unknowns!
So let’s start with the known knowns, what we know -
Agyapa’s source of funds will be our royalty revenue; which has been used in
past years for budget support and was part of the governments consolidated
fund.
This revenue will now be used by Agyapa to invest in other
gold companies and in companies that lend monies to gold companies worldwide;
i.e. Gold Royalties or Gold Streaming - the business of lending money to gold
mines and being repaid over the life of the loan in gold.
So the People of Ghana’s fundamental question is: WHY take a
risk-free and secure flow of funds (our royalties) and use that to invest in
risky, speculative ventures?
This then leads us to the known unknowns. It is our understanding that you want to
participate in the stock market by investing in speculative ventures like
over-priced gold Funds.
Yet, said gold Funds invest in gold companies and in debt
instruments of gold mining companies, whose shareholding and risk management
you have zero knowledge of.
KOA, I am certain that the people of Ghana do not know this
is what you intend doing. Hence, it is important that you elucidate to us
Ghanaians, exactly what you want to do and the related risks; you owe this much
to the people of Ghana - it is your fiduciary duty!
Lastly KOA, the apocryphal explanations you have provided
thus far have done nothing to
ease our minds. If this so-called novella truly is for the
benefit of the people of Ghana, why not float the majority of the shares of
this “wonderful company” Agyapa on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE)?
This would surely allow Ghanaians to purchase and own at
least 75% of what is being offered to Investors.
The remaining 25% that would be floated on the London Stock
Exchange (LSE) could be offered exclusively to Ghanaians living in the diaspora
in order to be inclusive.
This is definitely a more patriotic option than selling the
49% to foreign investors, which people are speculating could be limited to a
very few select investors, and perhaps mainly to Friends & Family, directly
or indirectly - a notion that is not farfetched, based on your track record
from the 2017 bond issuance saga which favored your friend and partner Franklin
Templeton and which excluded Ghanaians in the diaspora from investing.
All Ghanaians must be given the opportunity to invest in,
and benefit from, what is fundamentally OUR Ghanaian assets.
And finally, the unknown unknown is on the valuation of
Agyapa and this requires a whole new set of other questions; some even
unknown!!!
Stay tuned Mr. Minister
#StillOnTheAgyapaMatter
#OurQuestionsNeedAnswers
#GhanaiansFirst
Signed
Alex Mould
(Former Executive Director of Standard Chartered Bank Ghana
and Immediate past CEO of GNPC)
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