Local entrepreneurs are being encouraged to seize business opportunities in the growing Ghanaian economy where there will be no problems moving US currency out once investments are made there.

General manager of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation Dr Kwame Amoah Baah-Nuakoh, responding to questions at a T&T Energy Chamber business consultation at Cara Suites Hotel in Claxton Bay yesterday, said he is hoping T&T investors will assist in building Ghana’s oil and gas industry.

There is a free flow of foreign currency in the West African nation he said, adding: “There is a healthy investment climate and a stable economy in Ghana, as well as strong legal and regulatory framework for the oil and gas sector.”

Baah-Nuakoh said local content is important to Ghanaians, so any company investing in the country must pass on knowledge and technical expertise and there must be collaboration with universities and training institutions.

“We are looking at getting foreign capital to invest in upstream, midstream and downstream projects. We have huge hydrocarbon deposits on shore and offshore and we are crawling when it comes to the gas sector.

“Trinidad and Tobago is an old industry and we want to be able to harness our natural resources for the mutual benefit of the Ghanaian people,” Baah-Nuakoh said.

Ghana experienced 8.5 per cent economic growth in 2017, compared with 2.5 per cent in 2016.

Baah-Nuakoh and his delegation will be meeting with business associations and government agencies this week to discuss opportunities.

“We are especially interested in setting up fertilizer and ammonia industries. We spend a lot of money importing fertilizers. If we can convert gas into fertilizer we won’t have to fly the gas or import the fertilizer,” he said

Ghana has 36,000 kilometres squared and 103, 600 km2 of open offshore and onshore acreages and in June the country is expecting its first gas from those fields.

Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Chamber Dr Thackwray “Dax” Driver said he was happy about the business prospects in Ghana.

“We have Republic bank there and there is a wide range of opportunities for Trinidadian businesses to develop exports in service. Ghana is a good opportunity that should be explored,” Driver said.
Erin Energy, a Texas company specialising in African offshore oil deposits with licences to explore off Nigeria, The Gambia, Ghana, and Kenya, files for bankruptcy protection.