Ghana will apply lessons from mining to oil to avoid problems – P.V. Obeng
Ghana is about to join the league of oil producing countries of the world by the end of this year.
And according to Tullow Oil, Ghana will become one of the world’s top 50 oil producers when the country starts commercial production of oil.
There are worries, however, that Ghana will suffer an oil curse, just like other African countries that have found oil. The examples of oil producing African countries are not the best. Nigeria, the most populous country in West Africa is the worst example of an African country that found oil and plunged down the road to decay.
Shantanayan Devaranjan, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for the Africa region indicated in September 2009 that Nigeria was now in a worse position after the discovery of oil than it was before. In 1970 per capita income in Nigeria was US$900. After the oil boom it was US$450.
But Mr. P. V. Obeng, the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) says the oil curse can be avoided by Ghana.
Mr. Obeng who spoke to ghanabusinessnews.com in an exclusive interview in his office in Accra said Ghana can learn from the lessons of the mining sector. Mining has been going on in Ghana for over 100 years now.
“If you look at enclaves of the mining companies, they are beautiful, have nice buildings, but the communities in which the mining is done lack basic facilities,” he said.
He said that can be avoided in the oil industry. He suggested that funds will be allocated for the regeneration of these communities at the end of the oil.
He said the NDPC is interested in seeing some funds from the oil sector allocated to agriculture, education and other areas of the economy so as to make the country benefit from the oil.
Commercial production of oil in Ghana, is expected by the end of 2010.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
Pure crap. What lessons have they learned from years of mining in Ghana?
What P.V Obeng saying is all talk and indeed Ghana has been mining Gold for more 100 years but see where we’re in everything compare to countries who do not have a single speck of minerals such as Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong.
A century of mining is a lot many years and countries leaders do not have funds for current generation or future generation out of minerals we been mining over the years. How will you trust our leaders spending their way to their grave that don’t care about the people and how they even make a living.
Look at Azerbajan with currency even higer than the US dollar.
We have gold but our currency doesn’t have gold backing to make it strong, no added value is generated out of our mining.