The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) has recorded more than GH¢5 billion in mineral royalty inflows for the first time in 2025, marking the culmination of a nearly 500 percent increase since 2020 as Ghana sharpens its focus on maximising returns from mining.
The Fund attributed the performance to “strategic reforms” and “stronger collaboration” with key institutions responsible for administering mineral revenues.
The progress formed a central focus of high-level discussions between MIIF and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during a meeting in Accra, where both institutions explored ways to strengthen Ghana’s mining sector through improved revenue mobilisation, governance reforms and the formalisation of the small-scale mining industry.
Speaking during the engagement, MIIF Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Justina Nelson, said the Fund’s improved royalty performance reflects “stronger revenue mobilisation efforts” despite exchange rate fluctuations and prevailing market conditions.
She said the gains have been driven by closer collaboration with institutions including the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Minerals Commission, Ghana Gold Board and the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners to strengthen governance systems and improve royalty collection.
Nelson described the small-scale mining sector as having “enormous potential” for national economic transformation, noting that ongoing formalisation efforts are expected to broaden the royalty base while improving compliance across the industry.
The Fund’s Head of Investment, Mr Ernest Attiso, said MIIF’s mandate is to “maximise mineral royalty collections” in partnership with the GRA while investing mineral proceeds for the benefit of both current and future generations.
He said the Fund’s strategic plan through 2028 prioritises improving royalty mobilisation, strengthening governance, controls, compliance and risk management, while expanding Assets Under Management (AUM).
Attiso added that MIIF is identifying investment opportunities across exploration, near-production assets, mineral processing and beneficiation infrastructure, small-scale mining formalisation, and royalty and streaming financing models as part of efforts to deepen value creation within the mining industry.
He added that the Fund remains committed to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles through initiatives including afforestation, heritage and tourism development, and women empowerment programmes in mining communities.
The IMF welcomed MIIF’s role in strengthening mineral revenue mobilisation within Ghana’s broader fiscal reform agenda. IMF Resident Representative Dr Adrian Alter highlighted priorities including “fiscal discipline, debt sustainability, and domestic revenue mobilisation” as essential to sustaining macroeconomic stability and supporting long-term private sector-led growth.
On governance, Alter stressed the need for greater “transparency,” stronger reporting standards and improved management of fiscal risks associated with state-owned entities.
He also noted that although Ghana’s small-scale mining sector generates significant production volumes, it continues to record relatively low formal royalty capture due to informality and environmental concerns, expressing the hope that MIIF would help reverse this trend through ongoing formalisation efforts.
The discussions also examined Ghana’s Sliding Scale Royalty Framework, with MIIF describing it as a “balanced mechanism” that aligns royalty payments with commodity price movements while maintaining investor confidence and safeguarding government revenue.
The engagement emphasizes Ghana’s broader strategy of complementing efforts to attract new mining investment with measures to optimise revenue from existing mineral production, strengthen governance and ensure greater long-term value from the country’s natural resource endowment.
