Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Victoria Emefa Hardcastle, says she is optimistic that the guidelines to operate the Local Content Fund, which is meant to support local companies in the oil and gas sector, will be launched by the third quarter of this year.
Speaking at the Western Regional House of Chiefs in Sekondi, she indicated that they are guarding against the Fund becoming depleted, because people think it is government money.
“The team from the Commission, has been working for a few years on having the guidelines approved. Hopefully when we get the Board in the very near future, the guidelines can be approved and (it) can be launched by the third quarter of this year”
“We will then let the banks themselves use their capacity to do the risks assessment. We do not want the Fund to become depleted …people do not want to pay back because, they are under the notion that it’s government money. “
The Local Content Fund, established under the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 2016 (Act 919), is designed to provide concessionary loans to Ghanaian companies operating in the oil and gas sector.
Its primary goal is to build capacity of Ghanaian companies in the industry and promote economic empowerment among locals. However, despite its establishment, proceeds from the fund have largely remained untapped, due to the unavailability of approved guidelines for its disbursement.
The Petroleum Commission’s acting CEO was hopeful the launch will enable them “support the Local Content companies to get bigger contracts”.
She noted that the challenge with the local companies over the last few years has been lack of financial capacity.
“With the technical, they have picked a lot through the Joint Venture Scheme and now we are trying to build them up with the financial capacity”
Victoria Hardcastle further pledged to build on the relationship her predecessors had built with the Western Regional House of Chiefs over the years.
President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs and Omanhene of Essikado at Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketsia V, lamented that the region has not benefited much from the oil and gas industry, especially those in the upstream. He urged her to intervene.
“The (Western) region has an emotional attachment to the oil and gas sector and with your dedication and hard work we hope to see a big change at the end of your tenure. We appreciate the relationship we’ve had with you over the years, and we pray it would continue.”
The four-day tour took her to the Takoradi base of the Ghana Airforce, the Regional Coordinating Council, the Takoradi port and some oil and gas servicing companies among others.
