Form partnerships to benefit from local content policy - HFC MD

Managing Director (MD) of HFC bank Robert Le Hunte has urged indigenous businesses to form partnerships with international companies in order to help them participate and benefit from the local content policy in the oil and gas sector of the economy.

According to Mr. Le Hunte, most indigenous companies lack experience in delivering contracts, hence forming partnerships with international companies who have credible records of fulfilling their contracts is a guaranteed way to secure contracts in the oil and gas sector.

“To be able to secure good contracts you have to have a good track-record, and that is what they ask for. So you might be a businessman but your business may have never fulfilled any contract. So we have seen that one way of benefitting from the local content in the oil and gas sector is for such companies to partner others with a good track-record,” Mr. Le Hunte said in an interview with the B&FT at a local content seminar organised by HFC bank in Accra.

He added that HFC bank is committed to helping local companies with funds in order to give them the capacity needed to reach out for the benefits that exist in the oil and gas sector.

“We recognise that as a bank we have to play our role in the oil and gas sector’s development. One of the key factors for bridging gaps in the local content laws is the ability of people to get financing. So financing plays a very critical role in the implementation of any local content legislation

“One of the major reasons businesses are not able to get financing is the inability of some banks to access the risk. So because of the experience of our parent company (the Republic Bank) in helping to develop a lot of local companies in Trinidad to participate in local content legislation, we felt that this is going to be a great opportunity for HFC Bank to say to the public that we are ready to play a role as we have played in the past, in Trinidad, by helping companies be enabled to accept the legislation and help them finance and play their meaningful roles and benefit from local content legislation,” he said.

He further encouraged the business community not to be deterred by high interest rates in the country, but rather see an opportunity in taking risk in order to accrue the benefits that exist in the oil and gas sector.

“I have never found high interest rates a deterrent to good business. There is a lot of benefits in the oil and gas industry, and we therefore feel if companies are able to secure good contracts they can be financially viable amid the high interest rates,” he stated.

The Ag. Chief Executive Officer of Petroleum Commission, Theophilus Ahwireng, assured the business community interested in participating in local content for the petroleum sector of his outfits’ readiness to assist any company with the requisite information needed.

The petroleum local content policy regulation is to promote the maximisation of value-addition and job-creation through the use of local expertise, goods and services, businesses and financing in the petroleum industry value chain and their retention in the country; and achieve the minimum local employment level as well as increase the capability and international competitiveness of domestic businesses.