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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has criticized the excitement around the 10% royalty Ghana will receive in the lithium deal, saying it's "a celebration of mediocrity".

In October of 2023, the government in power granted a mining lease to Barari DV Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Ltd, for mining lithium in Ghana. As part of the agreement, the country will receive 10% of the royalties and own 19% shares in the company.

A statement signed by the National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, said, "government should have opted for a flexible range of royalty rate, which takes into account windfall profit of the company. This royalty arrangement has been adopted by Chile, which currently has a royalty rate range of 8% to 21% depending on certain variables. In similar vein, the 10% royalty rate secured by government could have been the baseline rate, subject to upward adjustment in cases of windfall revenue or profit by the company, if government had negotiated properly".

"It is important to make the point, that government’s boastful claim about securing a 10% Royalty under the deal, is a celebration of mediocrity. It is worthy of note, that the prevailing royalty rate of 5% was based on section 25 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 (ACT 703), which provides for a royalty rate of not less than 3% and not more than 6%. This law was amended by the erstwhile NDC/Mahama government, as far back as 2015 by ACT 900, which has made the Royalty rate open-ended and subject to negotiations."

Also, the prevailing industry royalty rate of 5% relates to the country’s traditional minerals such as gold, bauxite etc. The Barari-Lithium agreement is the first deal for the exploitation of a Green Mineral in Ghana.

Therefore, comparing the prevailing royalty rate of 5% to a 10% royalty rate for a Green Mineral like lithium, is an exercise in mediocrity" portions of the statement read.

Meanwhile, the NDC believes the deal is not in the interest of the country.