Sentuo Oil Refinery to receive over $164 million in tax exemptions under 1D1F

The newly established Sentuo Oil Refinery Limited is set to receive the highest amount of tax exemptions, totaling $164,633,012.00, if a request to Parliament is approved.

Sentuo Oil Refinery is one of 42 beneficiary companies listed in a document sent to Parliament requesting approval of approximately $335,072,712.13 in tax exemptions as part of the government's One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative.

The initial proposal was presented to Parliament in 2022 by the former Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, under The Exemptions Act, 2022 (Act 1083).

This led to a deadlock in Parliament between the two sides over the request for tax exemptions for these 42 companies.

The Minority claimed that the exemptions were a cover for corruption, accusing the ruling government of trying to give the exemptions to their allies and cronies.

However, the Minority in Parliament argued that businesses participating in the One District One Factory initiative needed tax exemptions to succeed in their ventures.

They also stated that if approved, the tax exemptions would not only boost economic growth but also attract significant investments into the economy.

On May 17, 2024, the Majority presented the request for tax exemptions to Parliament once more for consideration.

On January 26, 2024, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned Sentuo Oil Refinery Limited, Ghana’s first private oil refinery.

The facility was built by the Sentuo Group, Ghana, a Chinese conglomerate located in the Tema Industrial Area.

The refinery was built at a cost of $2 billion and has an initial processing capacity of 40,000 barrels per day, scalable to 100,000 barrels when the facility is fully operational. The facility is also expected to be completed this year and will operate at a production capacity of five million barrels per year.

Meanwhile, two energy institutions in Ghana, the Institute of Energy Security and the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, in February this year, asked the National Petroleum Authority to, as a matter of urgency, shut down the Chinese oil refinery, Sentuo Oil.

According to them, the refinery has not been licensed to distribute fuel in the Ghanaian market.

See the full list of potential beneficiary companies:





MA/SA

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