Browsing: Mining & Energy

Ghana would have lost a colossal US$565 million, if the deal had gone through in the form and shape it was presented by the GNPC last year.

The effects of the transition, ranging from revenue losses, under investment in hydrocarbons and the huge cost of adjustment, will only deepen the already existing schism and further ensure that Africa is left behind the rest of the world.

The caution comes at the time, the global economic frontiers are committing to the Energy Transition (ET) agenda strongly as majority of the economies set to meet net zero carbonisation by 2040.

To date, however, wealthy countries have under-promised and underdelivered. They have yet to reduce emissions to the extent necessary to avoid warming beyond 2°C, let alone 1.5°C. And, as President Akufo-Addo also mentioned, they have failed to honor their 2010 promise of USD100 billion per year to support developing countries’ responses to climate change. Tragically, the consequences will be felt by all for decades to come.

The release issued last week and signed by the Managing Director, Edwin Provencal, indicated that, “the revaluation which was a deliberate decision to enhance the reporting of the company led to a deferred tax obligation of GHC292,935,973 compared to the net loss of GHC291,017,758, a difference of GHC1,918,215 (Appendix 1). The increase in the value of the revalued assets also resulted in increased depreciation charges which further reduced the bottom-line or the profit for the year. But, the ‘deferred tax obligation’ aspect beats the financial reporting knowledge of the finance expert. This led him to ask questions in awe.

The finance and energy expert, Alex Mould has, thus, summarised the liabilities of the major SOEs in the country to help in critical scrutiny of the performance of the SOEs. In the summary, it was clear that, most of the SOEs more than doubled their arrears payments or liabilities. The heavily indebted were GNPC, Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). These companies have their liabilities exceeding GHC10.0 billion within a period of four years from 2016 to 2020.

The Chief Executive Officer of MIIF, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng who said this at the opening of the 2022 Ghana Mining Week and Gold Expo in Takoradi said quarry should be giving Ghana around GH¢100 million royalties annually, but Ghana only realised just GH¢ 3.8milllion in 2020.

Ghana since 2007 has awarded 18 oil blocks to various oil exploration and production companies. Out this, only three blocks have been developed and producing, that include the Jubilee field, TEN fields and the SGN field.

Speaking at national dialogue organized by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) on Ghana’s gas, the communication expert called on stakeholders to keep brainstorming in support of government to manage the sector. Themed “National Dialogue on the future of Ghana’s Gas Sector”,  the dialogue held in Accra brought some energy expect and industry players to  brainstorm on ways to develop the country’s “transition fuel”.

The unexpected windfall could go a long way to help government cushion consumers from sharp price hikes that have characterized the cost of fuel at the pumps in the past months.