The Progressive Alliance of Ghana (PAG) has urged Parliament to reject the government's revised lithium mining agreement, describing it as “not fit for purpose in 2025 Ghana”.
The alliance, a registered political party in the country, argued that the agreement does not prioritise the nation’s interests, with the government set to own only a minority stake in the joint venture.
Addressing a press conference in Accra last Monday, the leader of the PAG, Apostle Dr John Kpikpi, said the current lithium mining lease agreement that gives the country 13 per cent and Barari DV 87 per cent was not in the best interest of the country and called for a renegotiation.
“We should throw it out, we should take it off the table. The starting point should be Ghana 85 per cent and Barari 15 per cent, then we can start talking. We are tired of the constant over-exploitation of our resources by foreigners, with the collusion of our successive governments,” Dr Kpikpi said.
Recall
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, on November 13, 2025, laid the lithium mining lease agreement between the government of Ghana and Barari DV Ghana Limited in Parliament.
The agreement will allow for the mining of lithium and other rare earth minerals at Ewoyaa in the Central Region.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kinsford Bagbin, consequently referred it to the Lands and Forestry Committee of Parliament for consideration and report.
Dr Kpikpi, who is also a Reverend Minister, said the press conference was to state the position of the party on the lithium agreement, which was not in the interest of the country and called for a more transparent, equitable and patriotic approach to the management of the nation’s natural resources.
Value addition
He stressed the need for value addition and processing of lithium in the country, citing the potential for thousands of jobs and employment.
“The end product of lithium is batteries, lithium-ion batteries, which have become very important components in electric vehicles.
We must make sure that we set up processing plants, process it, and eventually produce the batteries here,” he said.
“We should take our time, develop expertise to get the lithium out of the ground. In the meantime, let's leave the lithium in the ground.
Let's leave it in the ground while we wait for a better arrangement,” he stated.
He said the country’s gold, oil, bauxite, diamonds, and manganese were being exploited by foreign companies, with the country receiving a paltry sum in return.
Dr Kpikpi, a former lecturer at the Faculty of Science, University of Ghana, Legon, lamented that the country earned $70 billion from gold exports between 2014 and 2024, but only received $8 billion, while foreign companies raked in $62 billion.
He said the story was similar for oil, with the country receiving only 15 per cent of the revenue, and for bauxite, where it received a mere 10 per cent.
The leader of the PAG called for a reversal of the ownership structure of the country’s natural resources, where the nation would receive the majority of the revenue from them.
