Limited capacities of Indigenous Ghanaian Companies threatening local content and participation

Local Content Lead for SSA-Baker Hughes GE, Sunny Ojieh has observed that Indigenous Ghanaian Companies (IGCs) in Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry are much without the technical and financial capacities to fully participate in the sector.

He observes that the Local Content and Participation law provides for technology transfer, one he stressed that the IGCs had not taken advantage of.

He made this comment during a presentation on the subject “Strategic Partnerships Model: A new approach to deepening Local Content in upstream oil and gas sector”, at the 2019 Local Content Conference and Exhibition, held in Takoradi.

According to Mr. Ojieh, the Regulation envisioned an environment where International Oil Companies (IOCs) engage Indigenous Ghanaian Companies with requisite capacities to execute an operation or business in a Joint Ventureship.

“The vision of the JV system for upstream industry anticipates that the IOCs will engage he IGCs to bid for contracts,  and be able to execute them. But you discover that in  the course of doing business, most times, that is not the order of the day because of capacity issues,” he scored.

Mr Sunny Ojieh indicated that IGCs should begin to rethink their participation in the industry, investing and focusing more on capacity building to tap into high-earning business ventures with international oil companies.

“For you to be able to operate, each of you [partners] have a part to play in that arrangement. The local Ghanaian companies have a part to play. The impression created is – its a handout; that local content is for us to partake in the national cake, … I think that impression; that mindset has to change. Especially those that are coming up.

“When you prepare yourself and build the capacity, international companies that are valuable are ready to take you to the next level,” Mr Ojieh explained.