The Alliance of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working on extractives, anti-corruption and good governance has disclosed that investor appetite for Ghana’s petroleum sector has waned significantly since the last petroleum agreement was awarded to ExxonMobil.
According to the group, between 2009 and 2023, the Ministry of Energy and the Petroleum Commission attended 21 conferences and roadshows in America, Europe and Asia for the purpose of attracting investors.
However, the road shows and conferences didn’t seem to have had any positive results.
Addressing journalists in Accra, Chairman of the CSOs, Dr. Steve Manteaw said government must revise its strategy in wooing investors into the upstream petroleum sector.
“After initiating the competitive bidding process, the government set a parallel direct negotiation process which discouraged participation in the competitive process. we recommend that government should review its investment strategy as the current one is not delivering the desired results”.
He added that, government needs to improve its relationship with the existing investors.
“The government’s inability to manage relationships has resulted in ENI seeking legal redress in court. This situation creates an antagonistic relationship which impedes Ghana’s attractiveness to investors”.
The CSOs believe addressing these and other issues in the sector can free up much needed funds for critical government programmes and spare citizens the additional burden of paying for the poor decisions of government.
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