A team from the Petroleum Commission led by its CEO, Ms. Emeafa Hardcastle met with the leadership and some members of the Consolidated Energy Services Chamber Ghana (CESCGHA), to discuss strategies to enhance local capacity and local participation in the industry.
The workshop, which took place yesterday brought together about 20 representatives from Indigenous Ghanaian Companies (IGCs) to address industry concerns, propose solutions and strategies to resolve the concerns.
The Executive Director of the Chamber, Mr. Nuertey Adzeman expressed gratitude to the Commission for consistently making efforts to honour CESCGHA’s invitations to dialogue and together proffer solutions to advance the growth of the industry.
“Over the years, the Commission has consistently supported our efforts to strengthen the competitiveness of IGCs in the industry. We are grateful for the continued support, and we know that you will continue to hold fruitful discussions with us,” he said.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Hardcastle outlined the strategies, and the government policy initiatives in place to promote investment and enhance local participation in the industry.
These include regular capacity building workshops for IGCs with the view to enhance their competitiveness, providing greater weights to local companies in bid evaluations, unbundling of contracts, and the incorporation of minimum local content requirements in contract awards, among others, which have successfully deepened local participation.
Furthermore, the Commission has sought regional cooperation with countries like Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda to organise joint Business-to-Business (B2B) sessions to foster collaboration and partnerships, share knowledge, develop competencies and strengthen local content development. She however acknowledged that continuous efforts need to be made to sustain increased local participation in the industry.
IGCs complain that the restricted access and high cost of capital coupled with payment bottlenecks create financial distress for companies rendering them uncompetitive. However, Ms. Hardcastle asserts that approval of the draft Guidelines by the Governing Board of the Commission, and Ministry of Energy to operationalise the Local Content Fund will largely address the credit challenges facing IGCs.
“As a Commission, our doors are always open for frank discussions on ways to deepen local participation in the industry as clearly set out in our local content regulations. We shall continue to have fruitful engagements to address outstanding challenges,” Ms. Hardcastle noted.
During the workshop, Ms. Hardcastle, the Deputy CEO, Mr. Nasir Alfa Mohammed and the Director, Economics and Local Content, Mr. Kwaku Boateng, took turns to respond to questions and provided clarifications requested by participants.
The Commission’s participation in this meeting is in furtherance of its commitment to continuously engage with its stakeholders to create the enabling environment to promote local content and enhance local participation in Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector.
CESCGHA was established in 2023 to serve as a mouthpiece for indigenous Ghanaian companies to strengthen their competitiveness in the energy sector. The Chamber is a merger between two trade associations – the Upstream Petroleum Service Providers Association of Ghana (UPSPAG), and Ghana Oil & Gas Service Providers Association (GOGSPA).
