Africans are yet to enjoy benefits of their oil and gas resources - Energy Minister

At the official opening of the inaugural Houston Africa Energy Summit, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Ghana's Energy Minister joined Heads of State, colleague Ministers, and Senior Executives of international oil and gas companies for a round-table discussion at the Julia Ideson Library in Houston.

Hosted by Mayor Sylvester Turner, discussions explored Africa’s hydrocarbon industry exploration and expansion, the challenges of African countries securing funding and investment, and what African countries can do to attract big oil and gas companies to exploit resources for mutual benefit.

The meeting also looked at renewable power generation and various innovations including carbon capture and storage, all within the overarching context of the current energy transition.

During discussions on decarbonization, the minister remarked that Africans are yet to enjoy the benefits of their oil and gas resources, therefore as leaders, they are going to mindfully engage in cleaner ways of exploiting the hydrocarbons, with assistance from carbon capture technologies.

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh also told the gathering that, the energy transition conversation presents enormous opportunities to investors within Africa’s energy value chain especially as we aim to embark on a rigorous gas monetization drive.

He narrowed this to Ghana’s current quest to see investors come and invest in E&P acreages and farm-in opportunities as well as the numerous opportunities in our power sector.

As African energy decision makers, the minister was hopeful that we shall all, in the interest of our respective citizens, derive maximum economic benefits from our God-given resources.