Welcome to this newsletter from BELA’s Energy and Infrastructure Practice Group. We hope you enjoy reading a selection of some recent topical business news concerning the energy and infrastructure sectors in Ghana.

Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund not sourcing for Agenda 111 - Deputy Finance Minister

The deputy minister for Finance, Dr. John Kumah, has dismissed claims that funding for Agenda 111 will be from the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF). According to him, GIIF is only a vehicle for mobilising funds for the Agenda 111 project which is aimed at improving health care delivery in the country. Agenda 111 covers the design, procurement, construction, equipping, and commissioning of 101 District Hospitals, 6 Regional Hospitals in newly created regions, 1 Regional Hospital in the Western Region, 2 Psychiatric Hospitals in Kumasi and Tamale, and a redeveloped Accra Psychiatric Hospital. Read more...

President cuts sod for biggest health infrastructure drive in Ghana

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo broke ground on Tuesday, 17 August 2021, for the commencement of Government’s agenda to build 111 hospitals across the country. Agenda 111 is an ambitious plan to bridge the health infrastructure deficit in the country but was mooted last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which laid bare the need for Ghana to upgrade, expand and equitably distribute health facilities across the country to better handle epidemics of such proportions. Read more...

Plans for USD54m Tema City Gate Gas Project in Ghana on course

Plans for implementing the proposed US$ 54M Tema City Gate Gas Project in Ghana are ongoing. A parliamentary report has revealed that the Ghana National Petroleum Cooperation (GNPC) is working to obtain the pre-requisite permits to ensure that the said project takes off without hindrances. The objective of the Tema City Gate Gas Project is to improve GNPC’s access to potential natural gas off-takers as part of measures to resolve the low utilization of natural gas, with the associated risk of take-or-pay liabilities for GNPC. Read more...  

ECG indebtedness to Bui Power hits over USD386m 

The Auditor General (AG) has indicated that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is indebted to the Bui Power Authority (BPA) to the tune of USD 386,878,949.46. The AG, in its latest report noted that monthly invoices to the ECG have not been settled within the required 60-days period, resulting in a relatively huge outstanding debt as at December 2019. Read more...

Discovery of oil in Jomoro has not translated into development - Ekye-Kwesi

The Jomoro CPP Parliamentary candidate in the December 2020 elections, Mr. Patrick Ekye-Kwesie has reminded the government and operators that the discovery of oil and Gas in the Tano Basin has not benefited the people of Jomoro. He noted that though the discovery of oil itself does not automatically translate into development, the strategies and economic framework, and policy decisions of the government must create the enabling environment for investment through renowned systems of development guided by empirical research. Read more... 

Energy sector debt to remain above USD1bn yearly till 2024 – IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the country’s energy sector debt will continue to remain above USD1bn per year if government does not step up its game in implementing the Energy Sector Recovery Plan (ESRP). The ESRP is a roadmap of immediate, near-term and medium-term actions needed to achieve the government’s aim of bringing the sector into balance by the end of 2023, and a commitment by government to fund the annual sector shortfall (with sector stabilization payments) from 2020 onward until the sector is in balance to prevent further accumulation of arrears. Read more... 

Tullow Ghana reiterates commitment to support government's development agenda

The Managing Director for Tullow Ghana, Wissam Al Monthiry, has reiterated Tullow’s intent and commitment to continue investing in Ghana through its Ghana Value Maximisation plan. Under the plan, Tullow and its partners will invest over $4 billion over the next 10 years to maximise value from the Jubilee and TEN assets and deliver consistent revenue to the Government of Ghana and value to the nation. Read more... 

Resolute settles Bibiani sale

Gold miner Resolute Mining has completed the $90-million sale of its Bibiani gold mine, in Ghana. The company earlier this month struck an agreement with Asante Gold Corporation to divest of the asset. Resolute told shareholders on 20 August that the company had received the initial $30-million cash payment from Asante Gold Corporation, with the balance of the consideration payable in two equal instalments of $30-million on or before the six- and twelve-month anniversaries of the transaction. Read more...

Government engages Bank of America's Securities for valuation of GNPC-Aker Energy oil deal 

A Deputy Minister of Energy, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, says the government has begun engaging American multinational investment banking division – Bank of America (BofA) Securities Inc, to conduct a valuation of the fields involved in the planned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Aker Energy oil bloc acquisition for oil exploration in the country. Read more…

CSOs petition parliament over GNPC's move to acquire stakes in Aker Energy AGM Petroleum 

A group of civil society organisations working in the extractive industry are calling on Parliament to reconsider the planned acquisition of stakes in Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum Ghana oil blocks by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). The group, made up of 15 civil society groups said they were not opposed to the government increasing its stake in natural resources ownership however it warned that the deal was not in the interest of Ghanaians. Read more… 

Look at GNPC, Aker Energy partnership as strategic defence - IES

Nana Amoasi VII, the Executive Director of the Institute of Energy Security (IES) has described the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s quest to acquire stake in Aker Energy’s two oil blocks as a strategic defence for the economy in the long term. Read more… 

BOST imported vessels without pipelines - Audit Report 

The 2020 Auditor General’s Report on the audit of statutory boards and corporations has revealed that the management of BOST contracted America Tank and Vessel In. (A&V) in July 2006 to supply storage tanks and pipelines and ship same to Ghana without the pipelines. According to the report, as of October 2020, a total sum of USD 5,129,170.05 had been spent on the project however the pipelines had still not been shipped. The report has called on management to justify the delays in bringing pipelines to Ghana. Read more…

LNG infrastructure company Ecow-Gas to develop more facilities in West Africa

Ecow-Gas -- an affiliate of the Tema LNG Terminal Company (TLTC) that owns the soon-to-be-commissioned LNG import facility in Ghana -- has won exclusive rights to build and operate storage and regasification facilities in Liberia and Sierra Leone, S&P Global Platts has learned. The Ghana terminal will act as a regional LNG hub, with shippers able to bring small-scale LNG into Liberia and Sierra Leone by reloading from the Tema facility. Read more…

Stay off FPSOs to avoid calamity - Commission cautions fishermen

Mr. Egbert Faibille Jnr, Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, has advised fishermen to stay off safety zones earmarked within the offshore oil rigs to avoid calamity to their lives, properties, and to the nation. Read more… 

NPA to revoke licenses of 80 OMCs

Eighty dormant Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) on the books of the National Petroleum Authority, will soon have their operating licenses revoked. Read more…

Deregulation policy to be reviewed

The Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has told Civil Society Organisations in the energy sector that government is in the process of reviewing the price deregulation regime of the petroleum sector, which has been in effect since 2015. Read more… 

Ghana to set up national housing authority to bridge housing deficit

The Ministry of Works and Housing says processes have begun to set up a National Housing Authority (NHA) to lead the supply side of the housing market. Speaking at the launch of the Graphic Group Housing Fair in Accra, the Deputy Minister of Works and Housing, Abdulai Abanga stated that the NHA will not only serve as a regulator in the housing sector but also plan, develop and manage housing development in Ghana. Read more…

Tamale Interchange construction in Ghana on the verge of completion

The construction of Tamale Interchange in Tamale Metropolitan Area, Northern Region of Ghana, is close to completion according to Alhaji Abass Awolu, the Director of the Department of Urban Roads. Read more…