The Country Director of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Dennis Gyeyir, has called on the government to subject all proposed revisions to the Atlantic Lithium mining agreement to rigorous scrutiny before granting any tax concessions or policy adjustments.
He stressed that any renegotiated terms must be backed by solid economic feasibility studies to ensure the country does not forfeit critical revenue from the emerging lithium industry under the pretext of declining global prices.
Mr Gyeyir made this call during a two-day media engagement on Ghana’s lithium fiscal regime and refinery efforts, which ended yesterday in Koforidua. The event, organised by NRGI, aimed to build the capacity of journalists to better understand Ghana’s role in the global critical minerals space and how value can be extracted sustainably.
According to him, the institute is concerned about recent engagements between the government and Atlantic Lithium, which has formally requested a revision of the mining terms agreed upon in 2023. The company has cited a sharp drop in lithium prices—from over $1,000 to about $700—as justification for revisiting fiscal terms such as royalties and tax exemptions.
Mr Gyeyir explained that while some of the company’s concerns are valid, any adjustments must be guided by proper modeling and assessment, not rushed negotiations.
“We’ve proposed a sliding-scale royalty regime where the government’s share adjusts with global market prices. But community development agreements must remain untouched,” he emphasised.
He noted that NRGI’s analysis also recommends a re-evaluation of carried interest provisions and strengthened tax avoidance safeguards. These include benchmarking lithium prices, conducting detailed cost audits, and ensuring the Minerals Commission and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) are actively involved in overseeing company claims and financials.
On the issue of import duties, he indicated that while value-added tax (VAT) concessions on certain mining equipment could be reasonable, blanket exemptions would be inappropriate. “If some equipment directly impacts the project’s economics, exemptions may be justified. But wide-ranging tax breaks should be avoided,” he stated.
Touching on Ghana’s lithium refinery prospects, Mr Gyeyir urged the government not to rush into building a refinery under current economic conditions.
“A refinery might not be viable today, but it could be in the future. What’s needed now is a coherent industrial policy that lays the foundation—skills development, infrastructure, energy, and water,” he said, highlighting that a single refinery would require up to 90,000 litres of water per day—an enormous demand given current constraints.
NRGI’s Communications Officer for Africa, Damilare Ogunmowo in his statement added that the engagement was also meant to empower journalists to hold policymakers accountable and inform the public about the implications of Ghana’s lithium agreements.
He noted that if the government negotiates effectively, the lithium industry could become a major revenue source to fund essential social infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and job creation initiatives. “We believe journalists have a crucial role to play in ensuring citizens are informed and can ask the right questions,” he said.
FROM STEPHANIE BIRIKORANG, KOFORIDUA
