A Review Of MIIF’S 2024 Financial Performance – A Testament To Good Public Sector Managment
The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) was established by an Act of Parliament (Act 978 as amended) as a sovereign wealth fund. MIIF which receives and invests royalties paid by mining companies and dividends from Government of Ghana’s free carried interest, mostly into the mining sector also has an overarching mandate to help develop the sector and increase Ghanaian interests across the entire mining eco-system. The mandate includes the positioning of MIIF as a co-investment anchor, aligns investments to the industrial objectives of the country such as investing in mining value addition, capacity building, promoting local content and the development of the capital markets with mining as the pivot.
Growth Trajectory & Record Profits
MIIF recorded an impressive increase in revenue from GH¢402 million in 2023 to GH¢ 1.6 billion in 2024 as it posted record profits of GHS 1.905 billion at end of 2024, which is more than 300% increment over the 2023 financial year (ref: MIIF 2024 signed audited financials). Between the period 2021 to 2024 following the appointment of Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, MIIF went through one of the most transformative phases of any state-owned enterprise in Ghana becoming a point of reference for resource management globally and in Africa.
During this period, MIIF a hitherto unknown entity positioned itself to be the Ghanaian anchor in increasing ownership in our mining assets, the development of far-reaching programmes such as the small-scale mining incubation programme (SSMIP) to help formalise the small scale mining sector, the MIIF gold trade program to complement the gold for oil and gold for forex programmes, the women in mining scholarship scheme, strategic investments in various minerals and the development of Ghana’s first gold-backed Enterprise Traded Fund (ETF) which was to be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange in 2025.
Key Highlights of 2024 Performance
- Net Profit: GH¢1.906 billion, exceeding the combined profits of all preceding years since MIIF’s operationalisation in 2018.
- Equity Growth:1,128% increase from GH¢149 million to GH¢3.39 billion
- Free Cash Position:GH¢5.6 billion, providing substantial liquidity for strategic investments going forward.
As a financial institution, MIIF compares favourably with the top-tier financial institutions in Ghana. The table below shows MIIF’s as third most profitable when compared with the most profitable banks.
Comparison to First Tier Banks in Ghana – 2024 PBT (GHS’m)
| Bank | Rank | Profit |
| Ecobank Ghana | 1 | 2.337 |
| GCB | 2 | 2,208 |
| MIIF | 3 | 1,906 |
| ABSA | 4 | 1,873 |
| STANBIC | 5 | 1,776 |
| Fidelity | 6 | 1,211 |
| GT Bank | 7 | 1,171 |
| Zenith | 8 | 1,061 |
| Standard Chartered | 9 | 1,009 |
| Access Bank | 10 | 959 |
Source: Ghana Association of Bankers
As a financial institution, MIIF clearly outperforms all apart from Ecobank and GCB in terms of profits and is probably the best performing state-owned organisation in Ghana
MIIF Growth factors
Sound Surplus Cash Management And Expansion Of The Royalty Base
MIIF’s presentations to the Finance Committee of Parliament over the period projected a strategic expansion of the royalty base and good cash management. The management of MIIF, put into motion a good surplus cash investment system and strategically expanded its royalty base. MIIF’s expansion of the mineral’s royalty base through interagency agreements with GRA, EOCO, GSA and MINCOM and deliberate targeting of hitherto royalty non-paying minerals such as medium scale gold, limestone, sand winning and salt, expanded the royalty base leading to an increase in revenue.
The MIIF Gold Trade Programme
MIIF with the support of the Government of Ghana started its gold trading program under two main lines in 2023 – The Gold for Forex Program and the Gold for Oil. The trade is said to have attracted a total inflow of circa US$1.1 billion dollars between August 2023, and December 2024, from the export of 470,056.61 ounces of gold through a revolving cedi equivalent trade line of $30 million from MIIF and injections from CBOD of an average GH¢50 Million a month leading to MIIF providing US$706 million to CBOD to support the payment of fuel imports into Ghana.
This helped stabilise the cedi and ensured the availability of fuel at the pumps. Despite a reported forex loss affecting about 7.5% of the total trade portfolio, an analysis of the MIIF 2024 financials reveals that MIIF registered a profit on its trade program of about GHs 36 million.
Strategic Equity Investments
In line with the objective of increasing Ghana’s equity interests in mining assets, MIIF invested $40 million in Asante Gold Corporation of Canada between 2022 and 2021. Asante Gold owns the Kubi and the producing Chirano (formerly Kinross Mine of Canada) and Bibiani gold mines. This investment which included a condition for Asante to list on the Ghana Stock Exchage increased Ghanaian interest to circa 40 per cent, making it the only large-scale international gold mine with significant Ghanaian interest since the divestiture implementation program in the 1980’s.
The Fund, through its investment in the UK and Australian listed Atlantic Lithium, is now the third largest shareholder in Atlantic Lithium globally. MIIF has not completed the investment in Atlantic Lithium’s seven Ghana tenements which includes the prolific Ewoyaa mine as this is subject to parliamentary ratification of the lease. Upon ratification by Parliament, Ghana’s stake in Ewoyaa and the local tenements will increase to 19%.
In line with this Agreement as negotiated by MIIF and MINCOM in 2023, Ghana increased its carried interest from 10% to 13%, royalties from 5% to 10%, a compulsory listing of Atlantic Lithium on the Ghana Stock Exchange, a community development fund to support the local community with 1% of gross revenue, the development of feldspar which is a by-product of lithium used for ceramics and fibreglass, the processing of the lithium and the insistence on local content as a job creation driver.
MIIF’s investment in the Ada Songhor industrial salt project through Electrochem Ghana makes it poised to be Africa’s largest industrial salt project ahead of Walvis Bay’s 16,700 acres in Namibia. Salt which has approximately 14,000 industrial uses is one of the most important minerals.
The investment which is part of an ongoing Songhor salt development plan has seen the employment of over 1,200 people, the re-start of exports and the potential to export 1 million metric tonnes to Nigeria alone per annum. Electrochem which is also compelled by MIIF to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange, provides an array of possibilities for industrial development in the Ada area stemming from caustic soda, pharmaceuticals, textiles etc.
MIIF’s 2024 investment pipeline as presented to Parliament and to the Transition Committee included investments in Newcore Gold at Enchi and Azumah Resources under a joint mandate with Engineers and Planners of Ghana.
Assets Under Management (AUM) 1000% Increment
MIIF has over the past four years increased its Assets under Managment (AUM) from US$125 Million in 2020 to circa US$900 Million in 2024 which is to further increase to circa US$1.7 Billion subject to completion of the valuation of Government of Ghana’s free carried interest which began in 2024.
Conclusion
The writer deems MIIF as a long-term strategic lever whose mandate must be supported. MIIF is well-positioned to shape the future of Ghana’s mineral economy and to complement the strategic efforts of entities like GIADEC and Goldbod. As Adongo remarked in 2022 when Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng presented the vision and strategy of MIIF to the Finance Committee of Parliament at the Labadi Beach Hotel, “MIIF is a colossus and a sleeping giant which must be supported to grow”. It is the hope of Ghanaians that the remarkable performance and vision of MIIF will rather be leveraged on to create more value and generational wealth for all Ghanaians.
By Patrick Boamah, MP