The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Golden Empire Legacy Limited, Dr. Mrs. Joana Gyan Cudjoe has criticized the Akuffo Addo administration for allowing the Indian government to establish a gold refinery in Ghana with 80% shares.
The business mogul who has been trading in gold believes the government could have outsourced the project to local industry players to help sustain the economy that has suffered a post COVID-19 lockdown shocks. Her disappointment comes on the back of a revelation by Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker that Ghana’s shares were 20%. “By the end of November, we may commission the gold refinery. We were to commission it by the middle of November but from what they are telling me, they are almost 95% done,” Duker said in an interview with 3 FM’s Alfred Ocansey. Although Duker indicated the percentage of ownership has time lines, Dr. Gyan Cudjoe insists the deal could be a rip off.
In a statement, she said “I am disappointed to hear that the government of Ghana is contemplating signing an agreement with the Indian counterpart in a 20/80 share of equity.” “We have sat here for foreign investors to come mine in our country and are taking all our gold out with a paltry 10% as our shares and we still haven’t learnt.” She quizzed, “How much does it cost to set up a world class gold refinery?” The refinery, according to the government, costs $25 million but Gyan Cudjoe believes there are local companies that contribute about 65% of gold produced in Ghana that could have been contacted to help establish the refinery.
“All these gold leaves the shores of this country with no form of value addition and on top of that some are also smuggled out,” she indicated.
She added, “We have been mining for over hundred years and the BoG recently was happy to inform the whole world that they have been able to purchase 280kg of Gold and we are talking about a country that is a leading producer of Gold and we satisfied.” “We have the opportunity of putting up refinery which will enable us to add value and ensure us able to maximize the full potential of the value chain of our gold industry,” she argued. She continued, “The unfortunate part is our willingness to dash out 80% of that to the Indians when we could easily have formed a consortium of local gold exporting companies like Golden Empire Legacy
Limited (GELL) to leverage their cash flows to raise the equity required.”
