Accra, July 7, 2017//-Ghana has been chock-full of heated discussions about the over $15 billion agreement between the Government of Ghana and its Chinese counterpart, which the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), civil society organisations and economists believe is a loan.
Although the details of the agreement is not in the public domain, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who is the man behind the Chinese agreement maintained: “This new model means that we are not borrowing money from China. We are proposing a joint venture with China where we bring less than 5% of our bauxite reserves and they bring up to $15-20 billion.
“What we are proposing and the agreements we have reached so far, are not new loans but rather joint venture proposals using less than 5% of our refined bauxite reserves. We are using this small fraction of our bauxite reserves not for the benefit of one individual or company, but for the benefit of the entire nation”, he told participants at conference in Accra.
Terms of the Agreement
Under the terms of the agreement, the government revealed that the China National Building Materials and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CNBM) signed a $2 billion facility with the private sector – led by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) – to provide funding for the ‘one district, one factory’ programme.
Also, the China Development Bank (CDB) which the previous Mahama-led government refused to conclude a $2billion loan agreement with because of outrageous natural resources demand, however agreed to unfreeze the loan to the current Ghanaian government.
Dr Bawumia who recently led a high-power government delegation to China for four-day visit at the invitation of the Chinese government said officials of the CDB have signaled their readiness to re-negotiate the $2 billion loan into a concessionary facility with a grant element, an extended maturity and at a much lower interest rate.
Furthermore, the China EXIM Bank pledged to provide about $1 billion to EXIM Bank Ghana to support infrastructure and business development in the West African country.
While the China Railway International Group Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government to provide $10 billion to support the components of a huge infrastructure development programme cutting-across the mining, industrial and railway sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
He stressed: “The Chinese government has provided Ghana the following grants: a grant of about RMB 100 million (Chinese Yuan Renminbi) for infrastructure development – we will use this to acquire about 500 vehicles for the police; about RMB 50 million for the Ghana Armed Forces; four patrol boats for the Ghana Navy; fund construction of 90 bridges across the country; fund construction of interchange at ‘Point 7’ in Tamale – this would be the first ever interchange in northern Ghana, and build a new Accra psychiatric hospital”.
There are other sugar-coated pledges which the cunning Chinese government officials and businessmen used to catch the ‘big fish’.
However, the minority NDC Members of Parliament (MPs) expressed the fear that all these deals could be laden with corruption and therefore asked the government to bring the MoU underpinning the agreement between the government of Ghana and that of China over the $15 billion loan to Parliament for scrutiny and approval.
Bring Agreement to Parliament
The Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu who led the charge insisted that the government ought to bring the MoU of the agreement to Parliament for ratification in compliance with Article 75 (b)(a) and(b), which stipulates that “a treaty, agreement or convention executed by or under the authority of the President shall be subject to ratification by an Act of Parliament and a resolution of Parliament supported by votes of more than half of Members of Parliament”.
Economists said the government is just using technical economic jargons to hoodwink the masses to believe the agreement is not loan.
According to them, whether leveraging or whatever the government chooses to call the current deal under consideration, is still a loan.
“No investor will dish out money to you for free. The one district one factory project is a government project, if it goes wrong it is still the government who will clean up the mess, so that investment indirectly is government’s debt”.
This government is going to saddle us and the unborn future generations with more debt than any other government in the annals of Ghana.
Adding their voice against the intention of government to leverage bauxite reserves in Atewa Range Forest Reserves, as part of several other places identified under the deal, A Rocha Ghana, Tropenbos Ghana, Friends of the Earth Ghana, Okyeman Environment Foundation, The Development Institute, Save the Frogs, Herp Ghana, Kasa Ghana and WACAM, all civil society organisations described the government’s action as not-well-thought-through.
They added that;”… we are still at a loss why government will leverage such priceless assets as part of its international financial bargaining chip”.
Benefits of the Atewa Forest
The Atewa Range consists of the second highest peaks in Ghana and is located 90km north of Accra (that is roughly about two hours drive from Accra), in the Eastern Region of Ghana. A large tract of the Reserve area straddles the East Akyem Municipal Assembly which has Kyebi as its Municipal Capital.
Atewa Range is the source of three important rivers, the Densu, Birim and Ayensu, providing water for adjacent communities and downstream users in the greater Accra region. The rivers from Atewa Forest feed the Weija Reservoir in Accra, which is managed and treated by the Ghana Water Company Ltd to ensure 3 million people in Accra get access to clean water on a daily basis.
For communities on the outskirts of Accra, who do not have access to potable drinking water, the rivers and streams from Atewa Forest ensures that more than 2 million more people are also able to access fresh clean water.
“If you are regular traveller on the Accra-Kumasi highway, am sure you recognise this magnificent place where clouds descend and are in constant embrace with the forests and mountains”, Seth Appiah – Kubi, National Director, A Rocha Ghana leading pressure group said in a statement.
“Atewa Range is a very special place, irreplaceable and not comparable to any place in Ghana and for which reason we are calling on government to spare Atewa Range forest from bauxite mining now and in the future.
There are a billion very good reasons why government should heed our call and without delay expunge Atewa Range Forest out of the Ghana-China deal, he stated.
Take Atewa Forest off
The major reasons for their call to take Atewa Forest off the deal are as follows:
Atewa is unique and irreplaceable and without doubt the most important water tower in Ghana providing water for 5 million Ghanaians on a daily basis. The forest is headwaters for three main streams, the Birim, the Ayensu and the Densu providing water to millions of Ghanaians in three regions, that is; the Eastern, Central and Western Regions of Ghana. As indicated above, without Atewa, there will be no Weija and no water for the people of Nsawam.
Atewa Forest contains unique and rich biodiversity and is recognized as a Global Significant Biodiversity Area. It is home to a large diversity of plants and animals, including 228 species of birds, 52 species of mammals and 32 species of amphibians.
This forest is home to certain species of plants and animals known to occur only in Atewa and nowhere else in the world. In his Pulitzer prize winning book, Half Earth, the renowned American biologist and father of “biodiversity” describes Atewa Forest as the finest example of upland forest in West Africa.
Atewa Forest holds longstanding cultural importance for the Akyem Abuakwa people and has a rich cultural heritage. The Okyenhene of Akyem Abuakwa,Osagyefuo Nana Amoatia Ofori Panin II, has expressed his commitment to the protection of Atewa Forest and his desire to see it become a National Park.
Recently, the majority of the largely agrarian communities in the eastern region and also dependents in Accra have called for the need to upgrade the Forest Range into a National Park.
Research conducted in consultation with several local and international natural economist for a one year long period indicates that the provisioning services of the Atewa Forest and its surrounding landscape is critical for millions of people and worth millions financially.
According to the study, of various development scenario’s, effective protection of the forest yields the greatest economic value – US$1.157 billion, over a 30-year period – to local communities, downstream residents and the national treasury compared to scenarios that include mining.
The services and values that Atewa Forest provides include; water for millions of Ghanaians with a total value of $28.1 million, Non-timber products estimated at $12.4 million, Climate amelioration services with estimated reduction of emissions of c. 200,000 tonnes of carbon per year, Tourism services estimated to be over $5 million, cocoa farming estimated at $9.3 million on annual basis. Further details of this report ‘The Economics of Atewa Range Forest’ are available online for your download and reference.
Additionally, there is a broad support from various stakeholders – state institutions and agencies, national and international NGOs, donors, and businesses – to upgrade Atewa Range Forest Reserve to that of a National Park. This is manifested by various investments, initiatives and multi-stakeholder alliance building, particularly over the last 3 years.
Again, Ghana has committed to conserve protected areas and other sites of known importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services. These commitments are enshrined in numerous international agreements to which Ghana is a party, including the Convention on Biological Diversity ratified by Ghana in 1992; UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, ratified by Ghana in September 2016, which entered into force in Ghana in November 2016; and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Furthermore, the present deal with the Chinese, which seeks to leverage bauxite lying beneath forests and vegetated off-reserve areas will work against our own Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement submitted during COP 21.
“We have seen the commitment of this government to halting environmental destructive activities polluting our water bodies. We share in the struggle together and still remain committed to support government in securing our water bodies for today and tomorrow.
In the same vein, we are counting on the government to do the right thing and safeguard our natural assets and heritage for today and generations yet to come”, Mr Appiah – Kubi, stressed.
Basic Facts
Indeed, Ghana has enough bauxite deposits explored and unexplored with major deposits in Awaso, Mt Ejuanema, and Odumpra Bepo, aside Nyinahin and Kyebi, according to the Minerals Commission.
Additionally, the minor deposits in eight other places scattered across the Eastern, Western and Ashanti regions of Ghana.
The country is said to be one of the most endowed natural resources countries in Africa. Its natural resources include gold, bauxite, oil and gas, manganese, diamonds, iron ore, gas, cocoa and arable land.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
Email: mk68008@gmail,com
