6 reasons Ghana must thrash Kofi Buah's 'revised' Ewoyaa-Atlantic Lithium agreement

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• Reality 1 month ago

  WOW !!
  What a betrayal of the masses. Kwame Nkrumah will be turning in his grave.

  WOW !!
  What a betrayal of the masses. Kwame Nkrumah will be turning in his grave.

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• Anonymous 1 month ago

  This debate is important, but it deserves more balance and context. When you compare Ewoyaa to Ghana’s long-standing gold mining fiscal regime, the lithium terms are not obviously a giveaway. Gold projects typically pay aro ...
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  This debate is important, but it deserves more balance and context. When you compare Ewoyaa to Ghana’s long-standing gold mining fiscal regime, the lithium terms are not obviously a giveaway. Gold projects typically pay around 5 percent royalty and give the state a 10 percent free carried interest. By contrast, Ewoyaa reportedly gives Ghana 13 percent free carried interest and a higher royalty, either as a fixed 10 percent under the 2023 lease or a sliding 5 to 12 percent tied to lithium prices. On pure fiscal terms, that is already equal to or better than most gold deals.
  
  It is also important to recognise that lithium is not gold. Lithium prices are volatile, capital recovery is riskier, and Ewoyaa is a first-of-its-kind large lithium mine in Ghana. Sliding royalties are a common global tool to keep projects viable during low-price cycles while allowing the state to benefit more when prices are high. Calling for royalty levels of 40 percent or more may sound appealing politically, but such rates would likely make the project unbankable and result in zero revenue, zero jobs, and zero value addition.
  
  That said, concerns about community compensation, transparency, local development funds, and downstream value addition are valid and should be addressed clearly and publicly. The real question should not be framed as scrap the deal versus accept exploitation, but rather how to enforce strong community protections, local participation, and accountability while keeping the project economically viable. Ghana’s challenge is to secure long-term national benefit, not to set terms so punitive that investment simply goes elsewhere.

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