Burkina Faso Minister of Mines Simon Pierre Boussim has denied an allegation by the president of Ghana that its northern neighbor had paid Russian mercenaries by giving them the rights to a mine.

The minister said that they have not granted any permit to a Russian company in southern Burkina after a meeting with civil society groups that were concerned about the allegations.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo caused controversy by stating last week that Burkina Faso had hired mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group to help it fight armed non-state actors.

“I believe a mine in southern Burkina has been allocated to them as a form of payment for their services,” he said.

Akufo-Addo said, speaking to reporters alongside the United States’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the US-Africa Summit.

Burkina Faso’s government has not formally confirmed or denied the allegation that it has made an agreement with Wagner, but it summoned the Ghanaian ambassador for a meeting on Friday to explain the president’s remarks.

“We made a list of all the exploitation or research permits for large industrial mines in the south, so they can see clearly that there is no hidden site,” Boussim said.

The Burkinabe government did recently award a new exploration permit to Russian firm Nordgold for a gold mine in Yimiougou, in the centre-north region, Boussim said, but the company has been active in Burkina Faso for more than 10 years.