Copyright ghanamma
Ghana’s sovereign minerals wealth fund has completed a two-day capacity building programme focused on improving staff responses to audit queries, signaling the institution’s renewed emphasis on transparency amid heightened scrutiny of public financial management. The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) partnered with the Internal Audit Agency to deliver specialized training under the theme “Effectively Responding to Audit Queries,” bringing together employees from multiple departments at the fund’s Accra headquarters last week. Chief Executive Officer Justina Nelson, who assumed leadership following the inauguration of a new nine-member board earlier this year, used the occasion to underscore what she described as the non-negotiable nature of accountability in managing Ghana’s mineral revenues. Speaking to participants, she emphasized that public trust depends entirely on how the fund handles every decision and every cedi under its stewardship. The timing of this training appears particularly significant. MIIF recently addressed media reports alleging financial irregularities during the tenure of its previous chief executive, noting that comprehensive audits are currently underway. While the fund has committed to making audit findings public once completed, the institution clearly recognizes that operational excellence requires more than reactive measures. Mrs. Nelson told staff members that their ability to respond clearly and promptly to audit queries demonstrates technical competence, but it also reflects something deeper. It shows whether the organization truly embodies a culture of transparency and integrity, she noted. She challenged participants to view the training not as a bureaucratic exercise but as an opportunity to strengthen systems that will enhance MIIF’s credibility and effectiveness. The Internal Audit Agency’s acting Director for Technical, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Senanu Mensah, led the training sessions with a pointed message for public servants. He cautioned that officials must be extremely deliberate about what they write in audit responses because they cannot predict where those documents might ultimately end up or how they might be interpreted. Mr. Mensah stressed the critical importance of succinct, unambiguous language that leaves no room for misinterpretation. In the public sector, he explained, vague or poorly constructed responses to auditors can create unintended consequences that extend far beyond the original query. The Internal Audit Agency has been conducting extensive capacity building initiatives across Ghana’s public sector, including onsite training programmes for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. These efforts align with broader government reforms aimed at strengthening financial management and accountability mechanisms throughout state institutions. For MIIF specifically, enhanced audit response capabilities come at a crucial moment in the fund’s evolution. The organization has grown its assets under management from approximately $180 million in 2018 to around $1 billion by 2024, making it one of Africa’s fastest-growing sovereign wealth funds. This rapid expansion has brought increased public expectations for transparency and sound governance. MIIF’s mandate centers on maximizing the value of dividend and royalty income from Ghana’s mining sector while investing mineral revenues to generate prosperity for current and future generations. The fund manages the government’s equity stakes in major mining operations and has made strategic investments in lithium development, industrial salt production, and small-scale mining formalization programmes. The training programme, which was coordinated jointly by MIIF’s Internal Audit Department and the Internal Audit Agency, focused on practical skills including documentation standards, regulatory compliance, and procedural adherence. Participants engaged with real-world scenarios and departmental case studies designed to improve both the speed and quality of their audit responses. Mrs. Nelson concluded her remarks by commending the collaborative effort between MIIF’s internal audit team and the external facilitators. She reminded staff that the fund’s pursuit of excellence cannot afford compromise, particularly as it manages resources belonging to all Ghanaians. The systems they strengthen through training like this, she said, won’t just make daily operations more efficient. They’ll make MIIF stronger, more credible, and better equipped to fulfill its constitutional mandate of transforming mineral wealth into lasting national value.
