IMANI’s Public Statement on the Revised Ewoyaa Lithium Mining Lease Urging Parliament NOT to Ratify the Barari DV (Atlantic Lithium) Agreement in its Current Form
IMANI’s Summary Position
IMANI calls on Parliament to withhold ratification of the revised Ewoyaa lithium mining lease between the Government of Ghana and Barari DV Ghana Ltd (a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium).
After a full review of:
- The original 2023 lease and the revised 2025 lease (as tabled before Parliament),
- Fiscal and value-addition modelling by our colleagues at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI),
- Detailed analyses by IMANI and other civil society stakeholders (including our prior analytical work),
- Official and semi-official commentary setting out the Government’s justification for the revised terms, including the “legal cap” narrative around a 5% royalty, the claim that the revised deal is still “one of the best in Africa”, and the assertion that lithium price collapses necessitate concessions, International experience on lithium fiscal regimes and contracting practice,
IMANI’s conclusion is clear:
The revised lease weakens Ghana’s fiscal position, entrenches one-sided commercial risks, fails to lock in serious in-country value addition, and relies on a poor and, in key respects, misleading interpretation of Ghana’s mining law to justify a large giveaway at the expense of citizens.
Parliament should reject the lease in its present form and insist on a properly re-negotiated instrument that:
- Restores a higher, law-consistent royalty and windfall-capture framework;
- Corrects serious gaps in the treatment of off-take contracts, transfer pricing, and related-party deals;
- Embeds binding, time-bound value-addition, and local content obligations; and
Is underpinned by transparent, independently verifiable fiscal modelling.
(Below is the full statement).
Statement_IMANI_Lithium_Agreement_Ghana_Atlantic_Agreement_Nov_2025-BB_PB
