Africa must work to balance supply-demand disparity for AfCFTA – Laurent Tronche

Market Engagement Manager at S&P Global Platt, John Laurent-Tronche has said Africa must try to balance the enormous resources it has to balance the growth of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Speaking at the 2021 edition of the Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCON), Laurent Tronche said that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides an opportunity for Africa to balance the massively growing demand and supply of petroleum products on the continent.

“One of the important things I think about AfCFTA is balancing the enormous resources that Africa truly has in terms of oil and also the growth that we are seeing in refinery products demand Coming from the fact that you have rising GDP, you have people growing the economy and the ability to consume refine products. So we see an enormous opportunity for Africa to balance this massive amount of supply with the growing demand. But there is a lot to be done,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli, has stated that Africa needs to take advantage of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to create an enabling environment that will provide a transboundary platform for the transportation of petroleum products.

GhIPCON is designed to actively bring to the fore the petroleum industry’s perspective and guidance on issues of governmental and regulatory policy as well as best practices for the advancement of the industry, not only in Ghana but across the sub-region and beyond.

Previous editions have had physical participants from all over Africa as well as the UK, France, and the UAE in attendance.