$1.5bn STX Sovereign Guarantee Spotted In Lagos

On the 27th of April 2011, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning acting on behalf of the Republic of Ghana issued a sovereign guarantee to STX Engineering & Construction Ghana Limited for the construction of 30,000 housing units.

The sovereign guarantee was to serve as security for the supplier’s credit agreement dated December 14, 2010, between the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and STX E&C, with a principal amount of US$1,525,443,468 plus any interest and fees accrued.

However the whereabouts of Ghana’s sovereign guarantee currently is in doubt following recent developments among the key stakeholders who have been at each other’s throats for some time now.

The Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Asare Otchere-Darko, in an interview with Asempa FM stated that Ghana’s sovereign guarantee was currently on a worldwide tour, with its current location unknown, as government struggles to raise the money for the project.

In reacting to this, deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, stated that sovereign guarantee can be anywhere in the world, retorting that it could even be in Afghanistan.

A source in the Nigerian financial sector disclosed to the New Statesman that Ghana’s sovereign guarantee was spotted in Nigeria a few weeks ago. Information reaching the paper indicates that the sovereign guarantee is currently in the United States of America.

The sovereign guarantee, it is reported, has been around the world in countries such as Switzerland, with government desperately looking for money for the project.

Parliament approved the sovereign guarantee bearing in mind that STX Korea, who promised to raise the $1.5 billion needed for the first phase of the project, was part of the deal.

In an interview with Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu on Joy FM, Minority Leader in Parliament stated that with STX Korea ostensibly now out of the picture, government has to go back to Parliament with an amended agreement for debate and approval.