President Akufo-Addo has appointed Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, a lawyer and investment banking expert with over 20 years’ experience in the corporate world, as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF).
Koranteng takes over from Yaw Baah, a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumawu in the Ashanti Region, who was appointed chief executive of the MIIF in 2019.
The Minerals Income Investment Fund is a state institution created by an act of Parliament, the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act 2018 (Act 978).
This law authorises the establishment of a fund to manage the equity interests of the Republic of Ghana in mining companies, to receive mineral royalties and other related income due Ghana from mining operations, and to provide for the management and investment of the fund’s assets.
Special-purpose vehicle
Edward Koranteng comes to office after an initial attempt by the Akufo-Addo government to realise the objectives set out in the MIIF Act by setting up Agyapa Royalties Ltd, with the intention of monetising Ghana’s gold royalties, hit a snag in 2020.
This occurred after Parliament approved the Agyapa Mineral Royalties Ltd agreement with the Government of Ghana on 14 August 2020 despite a walkout by the Minority.
Agyapa Mineral Royalties Ltd planed to raise between US$500 million and roughly $1 billion for the Government of Ghana through the London and Ghana Stock Exchanges to invest in development projects.
The deal became a topical matter following concerns, first voiced by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the lead-up to the December 2020 general election.
Civil society groups quickly joined their voices to the opposition, describing the special-purpose vehicle being created then as opaque, potentially corrupt and undervalued. Some dissenting voices insisted that the Agyapa agreement must be suspended to allow for greater stakeholder involvement.
However, the government has insisted that the deal is in the best interests of Ghana. Last year, the president directed the Minister for Finance and the Attorney General to review the transaction agreements and, where appropriate, to make adjustments to address some of the concerns raised by stakeholders.
Remit
As such, Edward Koranteng and his team at the MIIF have their mission clearly spelled out for them.
They must ensure that the Agyapa deal is repackaged and resubmitted to Parliament, and that it secures approval. Then they must implement the deal for the benefit of Ghana.
Career path
Before his latest appointment, Koranteng was the regional head in charge of East, Central and Southern Africa for Ghana International Bank plc (GHIB) in the United Kingdom, stationed primarily in Nairobi, Kenya.
His mandate covered the identification of opportunities for the origination of/participation in short-to-medium-term, structured transactions in the region, as well as advising on aspects of the business relating to UK and Ghanaian law in developing products and processes for the bank. This required developing the business by interfacing with government bodies, sovereigns, commercial banks, large corporates and development financial institutions (DFIs).
Among Koranteng’s many achievements under this mandate are the successful development of a funding structure for the Reserve Bank of Malawi to support that country’s dollar reserves. He also worked on secondary participation with Credit Suisse to provide budgetary support for the Government of Tanzania.
Among other feathers in his cap, Koranteng developed a funding structure with Trade Development Bank Africa to support the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia on essential commodities for the Government of Ethiopia, restructured a long-term facility with other DFIs, led by the European Investment Bank, for Shelter Afrique, and facilitated medium-term financing for HFC Bank Kenya.
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Koranteng was also responsible for the energy portfolio of the bank, which included Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Tema Oil Refinery, Volta River Authority, GRIDCo and Electricity Company of Ghana.
Before he entered GHIB, he worked with the Chase Bank Group (Kenya), now SBM Bank Mauritius, as group consultant for energy, oil, gas and mining. He also worked as the group head in charge of energy/oil and gas and mining for Fidelity Bank (Ghana) Ltd in Accra for a period of four years.
Koranteng worked with Access Bank Ghana as group head of corporate and institutional banking. Thereafter, he held various managerial roles at Ecobank, where he also pioneered the bank’s mining business early in that period, between 2000 and 2010.
He started his working career as a management consultant at PrivewaterhouseCoopers in early 2000, when he was part of the team that worked on the liquidation of the Bank for Housing and Construction and the Co-operative Bank.
Academic qualifications
Koranteng attended Mfantsipim School and holds BA (Hons) from the University of Ghana.
He studied law at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, where he also obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) in banking and finance.
He holds a postgraduate diploma in law from the BPP Law School in the UK with a specialisation in corporate and international trade law.
He was called to the English Bar at Lincoln’s Inn after his Bar vocational course in 2008 and subsequently to the Ghana Bar.
