Take advantage of internal resources to boost oil industry - Dr.Sulemana

Government urged to take advantage of AFCTA to attract investors to the oil industry

Ghana’s oil sector investments to be constrained if necessary measures are not taken, Expert

Hydrocarbon investments may fade out soon, Expert

Energy expert, Dr. Yusif Sulemana, has said Ghana should focus on taking advantage of internal resources stating that hydrocarbon investments will not be attractive to foreign market and investors in the future.

According to him, Ghana’s oil sector investments will suffer losses if internal resources because oil firms will no longer be interested in hydrocarbon investments which will hike the cost of energy.

“The narrative will not change, there will be some headwinds. The headwinds are that we will continuously have constrained investments into the world of hydrocarbons. As long as we have constrained investments into hydrocarbons, the cost of energy will continue to rise and that’s a fact.

“When this happens earlier than expected and we are not also prepared to take advantage of our own destiny, it is going to be really difficult. So, countries need to look inward.”

He emphasizes however that, “developing countries like Ghana should take advantage of what we have; strategic advantage because even the players that we have within our shores like Tullow and ENI, may not be interested in hydrocarbons in a time to come.”

Dr. Sulemana said the AFCFTA is a good platform for government to take advantage of, therefore urging government to utilize it to attract foreign investments into the upstream oil industry.

“I think in the coming years and beyond, there’s going to be growing alliance and Africa already has AfCFTA in place. We only have to make it work and work seamlessly,” he alluded.