Ghana has no fiscal policy on Oil, says RWI

Accra, Ghana- New York based Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) has bemoaned the fact that with barely a year to commence commercial oil production off its West Coast, Ghana is yet to put in place a clear policy direction as to how expected oil revenues would be distributed and utilized.

Emmanuel Kuyole, Africa Regional Coordinator for RWI said the country has neither overhauled the agencies charged with overseeing the industry nor published policies on how the discoveries would be used to benefit the country.

Mr Kuyole’s comments highlights pressure in Ghana and outside for government action to help the country escape the so-called “paradox of plenty”, that has left many other resource-rich countries in the grip of graft and mass poverty.

According to him, even though the Ghana has stated clearly its intention to avoid the fate of Nigeria and other troubled resource regions by setting out modalities, before the commencement of commercial oil production for royalties, dividends, corporate taxes and other levies, not much has been achieved in that direction.

Speaking at a training workshop for members of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalist (IFEJ) , Mr Kuyole explained that current projections by the German Technical Coorporation indicates that Ghana could reap as much as US$ 25 billion over the projected 25 year life span of the Jubilee oil field, for which reason prudent strategies are required ahead of time to ensure such revenues are well utilised.

He expressed concern about the fact that $27 million of annual receipts from the country’s minerals resources had not impacted much on the livelihood of the citizenry since independence, calling for definitive actions to forestall a similar situation with the entry of oil set to generate $1billion in annual revenue.

According to him, even though the past government worked out a draft oil policy, it is far from being a complete document as the current government wants to revise most portions of the text