Ghana, an oil producing West African nation, has elected the flag bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Dramani Mahama, as the country’s sixth President under its Fourth Republic.
Mr Mahama, who was the fourth President of Ghana between 2012 and 2016, launched a comeback and succeeded in beating the governing party’s flag bearer and Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in an election that was contested by twelve presidential candidates.
Certified results announced by the country’s electoral management body, (Electoral Commission), on Monday, 9th December 2024, showed that Mr Mahama obtained 6,328,397 representing (56.55%) while Dr Mahamudu Bawumia garnered 4,657,304, representing (41.61%).
The 10 remaining presidential candidates polled 205,721, representing (1.84%).
The election which was held on Saturday, 7th December 2024, recorded pockets of violence in some constituencies across the country.
The opposition party secured a commanding majority of 185 seats in Parliament while the governing party secured about 65 seats with three independent seats.
Ghana commenced oil production in 2010 under the National Democratic Congress administration led by the late President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills.
Initial output increased from 24.2 million barrels in 2011 to a peak of 71.44 barrels in 2019.
Production from the basin has since dropped after 2019 by about 32 per cent to 48.25 MMbbl in 2023.
Currently, the country’s daily oil production from the three oil fields is hovering around 120, 242 barrels per day.
The decline in oil production has been a major concern to many industry watchers in the country.
Recently, at the Africa Oil Week (AOW) in Cape Town, South Africa, the Chief Executive Officer of Petroleum Commission, Ghana, Lawyer Egbert Faibille Jnr., told oil and gas investors that his outfit had presented a raft of proposals to the Ministry of Energy seeking a review of Ghana’s fiscal regime to make the upstream sector very attractive.
Subsequently, at the launch of the AOW in Accra last month, the Minister for Energy Herbert Krapa told this portal that the Ministry had received the proposals and is working on them.
Ahead of this year’s election, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) promised in their 2024 Manifesto to increase exploration activities to establish new reserves by rebuilding investor confidence through policy and regulatory clarity, consistency, predictability, transparency, and governance and attract world-class investors.
It also plans to innovate multi-field development systems that optimise the development of infrastructure and allow profitable production of otherwise marginal fields.
Additionally, the NDC plans to fully domesticate the non-revenue benefits of the oil and gas industry for Ghanaians by enhancing technology transfer, supporting local businesses, and increasing local content in procurement. This includes re-establishing the National Oil Company (NOC) as a centre of excellence and reviewing laws and policies to align with these goals.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com