The Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has expressed his commitment to strengthening the relationship between Ghana and Nigeria to tap into the latter’s rich experience in the petroleum sector for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
Dr Opoku Prempeh was speaking following a visit to Abuja where he met with his Nigerian counterpart.
The two ministers centered their discussions on leveraging on the experience of Nigeria with which has decades of discovery know-how.
ECOWAS
The minister who is also the Chairman of the Committee of Energy Ministers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said there is the need for collaborative efforts and drawing of useful lessons Nigeria has accumulated over the years.
With Ghana recently joining the comity of oil producing nations, he said, “there is the need to take lessons from Nigeria and learn from all the mistakes they made regarding the signing of petroleum agreements and maximizing their quota of local content and local participation, something Ghana is still getting a grasp on.”
He said it was heartwarming that he and his Nigerian counterpart deliberated their positions on the global conversations around energy transition and what the implications were for developing countries such as Ghana and Nigeria.
Powering industrialization
Dr Prempeh said whilst it is important to recognize the need to gravitate towards clean energy, “African countries must make this move organically, in order to use available fossil fuels to power the industrialization agenda across the continent.”
The Minister and the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources also discussed the need for the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) to protect the interest of petroleum resource rich nations.
“We both shared our commitment to support the APPO, which are championing the cause for Africa to be dealt with fairly when it comes to decisions such as prices and importation of petroleum products,” he said.
Going forward Dr Prempeh said he is looking forward to hosting his counterpart in Ghana to continue the discussions.
Collaboration vital
For his part, the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, commended the Dr. Prempeh for the move and called for more collaboration.
Ghana and Nigeria over the years have collaborated in many areas especially gas and power supply as well.
