Ghana to raise $750m through London IPO of minerals fund

Bloomberg News | November 15, 2018 | 10:28 am Africa

Accra, Ghana (Image by Sloane on Flickr)

(Bloomberg) — Ghana will seek to raise as much as $750 million through a sale of shares in a fund that will hold the West African nation’s stakes in mining companies and receive mineral royalties, said Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

In September, lawmakers passed legislation for the creation of the fund that will look to securitize future revenue from royalties to support Ghana’s developmental needs, Ofori-Atta said Thursday in a presentation of his budget proposals for 2019 in parliament in the capital, Accra. The fund will set up a special purpose vehicle and conduct an initial public offering through a dual-listing on the London Stock Exchange and the local bourse, he said.

“The transaction advisers for the IPO have begun work in earnest,” he said.

The government of President Nana Akufo-Addo is raising revenue to support economic growth through infrastructure projects and investments in manufacturing and the agriculture sector. The country is the continent’s largest gold producer after South Africa and is raising crude output to about 200,000 barrels per day from oil fields operated by Tullow Plc and Eni SpA.

(By Ekow Dontoh)