A couple of weeks ago, the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), the state entity set up by the Government of Ghana to manage the country’s mineral wealth through royalty collection and investment, published its audited financial performance for 2025, and the results are nothing short of an impressive demonstration of financial resilience by a state institution in recent times.

The Fund announced a profit of GH¢1.1 billion last year.

To the uninitiated, the immediate reaction to this performance would be to compare the figure with the previous year’s GH¢1.87 billion and conclude that the Fund had somehow underperformed.

Such a conclusion is simplistic, devoid of context and fails to put things in perspective.

The reason is simple.

The MIIF that reported its 2025 results is not the same MIIF that operated in 2024. Following amendments to the MIIF Act under the Minerals Income Investment Fund (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 1137), the Fund’s share of mineral royalties was slashed dramatically from 77.6% of mineral royalties in 2024 to just 2% in 2025.

At the same time, its entitlement to dividends from the State’s free-carried interests in mining companies was significantly reduced.

In essence, MIIF was asked to do considerably more with considerably less. Against that backdrop, maintaining profitability of over GH¢1.1 billion is not evidence of decline; it is evidence of exceptional financial management.

What is even more remarkable is that while MIIF’s statutory entitlement was drastically reduced, total mineral royalty collections actually increased, rising from approximately GH¢4.9 billion in 2024 to GH¢5.4 billion in 2025.

That tells an important story.

It suggests an institution that has continued to protect the State’s interests by strengthening royalty mobilisation, improving compliance and ensuring that Ghana receives what is due from its mineral resources.

This is precisely the mandate MIIF was established to fulfil. The Fund’s balance sheet tells an even stronger story.

Retained earnings grew by nearly 35%, strengthening the institution’s capital base. The equity-to-assets ratio improved significantly from 27% to 43%, an indication of a healthier and more resilient institution.

Current liabilities fell by about 37%, while trade and other payables declined by more than 91%, reflecting tighter financial discipline and stronger capital management.

These are not cosmetic improvements. They are the kinds of indicators investors, credit analysts and financial professionals use to assess whether an institution is becoming stronger or weaker.

By those measures, MIIF became stronger in 2025.

Yet much of the commentary following the publication of the audited accounts has focused almost exclusively on comparing profit figures without acknowledging the legislative changes that fundamentally altered the Fund’s operating model.

That is like reducing a company’s revenue by almost all its guaranteed income and then criticising management for not matching the previous year’s earnings.

Context Matters

One is also tempted to contrast the current administration with the previous management by highlighting investments made between 2021 and 2024.

But these investments must be evaluated based on measurable outcomes rather than announcements or expectations.

Several high-profile investments made during the previous administration continue to raise legitimate questions.

A Legacy of Non-Performing Investments

It is worth noting that the so-called strategic investment initiatives embarked upon by the previous administration have resulted in a significant drag on the Fund’s performance, given that the returns on these investments thus far have been negative, to say the least.

A case in point is an investment in Asante Gold Corporation, which was purchased at a cost of GH¢361.85 million but had a value of GH¢209.28 million at the end of the first half of 2026, indicating a whopping potential loss of GH¢152.57 million of taxpayers’ funds.

Another significant outlay into the Ada Songor project through a preference share investment of GH¢360 million in Electrochem Ghana Limited has accrued paper gains of GH¢158 million, while the investment remains unpaid due to the company’s precarious financial condition, which has led to an almost 10-month period of dormant operations since the beginning of 2025.

Nearly a third (GH¢17.74 million) of the investment of GH¢62.27 million in Atlantic Lithium Limited had been eroded as of the end of June. Further, the terms of a potential acquisition of the company by a Chinese producer will result in a 16% realised loss to the Fund, translating into a forfeited value of GH¢13.1 million.

Perhaps an even more burdensome legacy of the previous administration is the Gold Trade programme. While the programme was duly ended in April 2025 following the operationalisation of GoldBod, nearly GH¢1.7 billion remains outstanding from the aggregators, and the Fund is exploring all options to recover these funds.

None of this suggests these investments are without potential.

Long-term investments often require patience.

But patience cannot replace performance measurement.

An investment portfolio should be judged by realised value creation, profitability and returns, and not merely by market optimism or press releases issued at the time investments were made.

Equally concerning is the tendency to present continuity as an absolute virtue.

Institutional continuity is indeed important. However, continuity should never mean preserving every inherited initiative regardless of changing economic conditions or financial realities.

Every responsible management team has an obligation to review inherited projects, assess their commercial viability and allocate scarce public resources where they generate the greatest value.

That is not discontinuity.

That is sound governance.

Even critics of the current administration acknowledge that the inter-agency collections framework established in 2023 has been reinforced.

Sustaining and growing collections under a dramatically reduced retention formula, without disruption to the underlying institutional machinery, is a demonstration of operational continuity, not its absence, whatever it is being made to suggest.

Ultimately, the true measure of MIIF’s success is whether it continues to safeguard Ghana’s mineral wealth while remaining financially strong.

The 2025 audited accounts suggest exactly that.

The Fund successfully navigated one of the most significant reductions in its statutory revenue base since its establishment. It increased mineral royalty collections, maintained profitability, strengthened its capital position, reduced liabilities and significantly improved its balance sheet.

Few institutions confronted with such a dramatic reduction in guaranteed revenue could claim similar results.

So instead of viewing the GH¢1.1 billion profit through the narrow lens of year-on-year comparison, Ghanaians should recognise what it represents: an institution that adapted to a fundamentally different legal and financial environment without compromising its financial integrity.

That is a story of resilience.

And in today’s economic environment, resilience is perhaps the most valuable asset any sovereign investment fund can possess.