The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has revealed that Ghana’s government has saved an additional $173 million on crude oil and GH₵2.6 billion on gold exports following the cancellation of the SML revenue assurance contract.
This comes after an earlier announcement that the State had already saved over GH₵1.2 billion from the main SML contract cancellation.
The contract, which would have monitored revenue from upstream oil production and gold exports to international markets, never commenced due to audits by KPMG and ongoing investigations by the OSP.
With monthly crude oil exports averaging 3.85 million barrels and gold exports valued at over GH₵5.8 billion, the avoided payments are substantial.
“These contracts, which were based on a variable fee structure linked to exports of crude oil and gold, would have cost the State approximately US$173 million for crude oil and GH₵2.6 billion for gold exports over five years,” the OSP said.
Under the agreement, SML would have earned $2.89 million per month on crude oil and GH₵43.77 million per month on gold exports, totaling $34.65 million and GH₵525.27 million per year, respectively.
Over five years, the payout would have reached $173.25 million and GH₵2.63 billion, money the government has now saved.
For now, billions of cedis that would have gone to a private contractor remain in the State’s coffers, available for development projects, public services, or debt repayment.
