The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana National Gas Company, Dr Benjamin K.D. Asante, has underscored the need for Ghana to pass and implement a ‘Gas Act’, noting that it is crucial for driving the sector forward.
The West African nation has developed a Gas Master Plan which outlines the country’s strategies for developing its natural gas resources.
Although there are other laws that regulate natural gas utilisation in the West African nation, the absence of a ‘Gas Act’ is somehow hindering the investment needed to develop the gas resources.
Speaking at the 2024 stakeholders’ roundtable conference under the theme: ‘Building an Effective Gas Sector Revenue Management System: The Role of Stakeholders’, Dr Asante emphasised the need for access to capital, particularly in Africa, where infrastructure development is capital-intensive.
“If you are going to be having a facility or infrastructure, you need access to capital, particularly in our part of the world, and then, develop the secondary market.
“So, currently, we use about 85–90 per cent of our gas for power generation, but we also need to accelerate the use of gas for non-power applications and, last but not least, the Gas Act.
“Now, when we start, we’re looking forward to accelerating the finalisation and implementation of this Gas Act because that’s the only way we can provide some impetus to all the things that we are talking about,” Dr Asante said.
He advocated for increased private sector participation, access to finance and local content provisions to build capacity and ensure sustainability.
“We also need access to finance and transactions. We have to encourage private sector participation in the industry. That is one of the ways we can actually sustain the industry. So, we need that as well and then, local content provision to build capacity or sustainability,” he added.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com