Leverage on vast resources to address energy poverty – Ghana Gas CEO to African leaders

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ghana National Gas Company Limited, Dr. Ben K.D. Asante, has challenged leaders in Africa to leverage on the vast available resources to address persistent energy poverty across the continent.

According to him, conscious efforts must be made to harness the optimum balance of export and local utilisation of resources on the continent.

He averred that the utilisation of these resources is a necessary platform for ensuring sustainable, affordable and accessible energy.

Dr. Asante was speaking at the 14th Multi-year Expert Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva, Switzerland.

According to him, prudent management of resources; provision of the requisite fiscal environment to ensure access to capital; and building Local Intellectual Capacity will be some of the key drivers for development across the continent.

Dr. Ben Asante enumerated that Africa’s gas share in the global market was 6% in 2021, and this is expected to increase to over 11% by 2050 – while production is projected to increase from 260 billion cubic metres in 2021 to 585 billion cubic metres in 2050.

In view of all these projections, he said, some challenges exist in the development and utilisation of Africa’s energy resources.

These challenges, he enumerated, are lack of access to capital for projects; lack of adequate requisite infrastructure; unattractive fiscal regime/taxation requirements; unclear institutional and regulatory frameworks; lack of requisite intellectual capacity; inadequate local/private sector participation in the energy sector; and non-cost-reflective delivered commodity price.

Dr. Asante also talked about the oil and gas industry in Ghana, making reference to policies guiding the industry in Ghana and averring that: “The policy is to look at using some of the gas for power generation, because it is like a direction that government wants to take in terms of increasing our electricity penetration – especially in the rural areas.”

Dr. Asante said that country-specific policies must be formulated to meet the needs of respective citizens.

The Ghana Gas CEO further touted Ghana as the best destination when it comes to investment, and therefore invited attendees to look Ghana’s way whenever they think about investing.

The 14th expert meeting session is a neutral platform for sharing country experiences, in terms of successful strategies and policies implemented at national, regional and international levels to effectively manage commodity price volatility.

More precisely, the expert meeting assesses links between commodity price volatility and key macroeconomic indicators in commodity-dependent and developing countries (CDDCs), and the links between commodity price volatility and food security in net-food-importing countries.

The meeting in Geneva also discussed market and technology-based instruments that can help manage price risks.

The next session, to which the Ghana Gas boss has been invited, is scheduled to be held in Belgium.