Ghana’s oil investment climate is the most liberal in Africa – Dep. Energy Minister
Deputy Energy Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam says Ghana’s oil investment climate has been touted as the most liberal not just in the West African sub-region but the whole Africa.
Speaking on behalf of Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh at the official opening of the Ghana pavilion at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference underway in Houston, Texas, USA, he said Ghana’s petroleum fiscal regime is investor friendly offering higher returns to investors.
He added that the licensing regime is transparent, and provides investor certainty and flexibility, and also accommodates different financial products including risk capital as well as concessional facilities for the development of our oil and gas resources.
“Our oil basins are largely derisked especially the Western Basin which contains about 80 prospects and 40 discoveries. This means that the potential to make a discovery when you invest in exploration in Ghana is very high” he said.
Dr. Amin expressed satisfaction at the increased participation of both the private and public sector at the conference. In his view, this shows that the potential for growing Ghana’s petroleum and energy industries is huge; and the prospects for accelerating the growth of the economy is much brighter in the future.
“As already demonstrated by data from the Ghana Statistical Service, real economic growth rate in 2021 is about 5.4% which outperformed what was projected at 4.4%, a strong indication of the return of our economy to pre-COVID times.”
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He added “The recovery of our economy means that we must position our oil and gas industry to play its strategic role of generating more revenue for the state, creating jobs for our people, adding value to the economy and improving on our trade balance. This calls for greater partnership between Ghanaian businesses and foreign investors.”
On the downstream petroleum front, the Deputy Minister said Ghana aspires to become a hub for refined petroleum products and petrochemicals in the West African sub-region and beyond by the year 2030
He says in line with this, government has designated a free zone area for the development of petroleum and petrochemical refineries, storage and transportation facilities for the export of products to largely African markets. Adam said, this requires collaboration with the private sector to achieve the objectives of the Hub.
The deputy minister said in recognition of the global advocacy for energy transition whilst also ensuring that hydrocarbon assets are stranded, oil and gas activities will be undertaken in an environmentally friendly manner as the country leverages on its oil and gas resources in pursuit of cleaner energy.
The 4-day OTC event will see the deputy minister as the leader of the Ghanaian delegation addressing strategic events all with the aim of positioning Ghana for investment.
