The fund recorded an annualised end-year return of 6.13 per cent in 2022.

The return was also influenced by foreign exchange volatility and good treasury management of funds.

MIIF indicated that the growth was primarily anchored on innovative strategies which led to increase in royalties income, expansion of royalty sources and investment income.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the fund, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that MIIF mobilised GH¢1.3 billion in 2021 and GH¢1.8 billion in 2022, representing a 36 per cent growth over the previous year, a major factor in growing the AUM.

“We have been able to do this because of an inter-agency framework we put in place last year which has seen us collaborating with more agencies,” he said.

Mr Koranteng mentioned some of the agencies as the Ghana Standards Authority, the Economic and Organised Crime Office and the Minerals Commission, the regulator of the minerals sub sector.

“We have also adopted innovative technologies such as geo-mapping all mining sites in Ghana and also creating a real-time dashboard for all royalties contribution from every mine in the country,” the MIIF CEO added.

Mr Koranteng further said the Fund put in measures to expand the royalties stream by adding sand winning and salt to the list of royalties- paying minerals which helped with diversifying the royalties base away from gold.

Investment activities of MIIF started in March 2022 with a $20 million acquisition stake in Ashanti Gold Corporation, a Canadian and German listed company which has assets in Bibiani, Chirano, and Kubi.

MIIF subscribed to 14,514,286 ordinary shares in the company, representing 4.62 per cent of the entity at the time of purchase.

MIIF also closed a GH¢25 million deal in a Ghana/Africa small and medium enterprise (SME) focused fund.

More investments

The company, which invests the state’s share of mineral royalties in viable assets, is ready to invest in lithium and salt of up to $60 million and a small-scale mining incubation support programme of up to $60 million this year.

MIIF also plans to develop a gold- backed Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), with the support of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to be traded on the Ghanaian bourse and possibly the Johannesburg and Toronto stock exchanges.

Mr Koranteng expressed optimism that MIIF would, in a few years, become the lever that would help the country through volatile economic periods and offer the stability needed in the economy.

“MIIF will seek to diversify its funding and investment portfolio sources, including capital market transactions, a gold trade desk which has already been set up which will definitely be a source of foreign exchange for the country,” he said.

The MIIF CEO added that the fund would explore risk participation in high-yielding projects with top-grade financial institutions.

“We are a young fund, however, we are focused on getting it right. We plan to hit the $500 million AUM by January 2024 and $1 billion by 2027,” Mr Koranteng stated.

He said the fund had made investments in Ashanti Gold and was also targeting some gold exploratory companies, lithium and salt as well as lithium by-products such as feldspar and silica to start the ceramics and fibreglass industry.

About MIIF

The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) is Ghana’s minerals sovereign fund.

It was established pursuant to the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, 2018 (Act 978) as amended to receive royalty payments from mineral production activities in Ghana and to manage government’s equity interest in mining companies.