The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) – the institution mandated to regulate, oversee and monitor activities in the petroleum downstream industry – is pushing for stronger local players in the industry, even as it seeks to shut down operations of idle members.

Hassan Tampuli, Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, in a speech to members of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) said prior to the introduction of the deregulation policy, petroleum marketing operations were dominated by foreign Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). But, currently, the shareholding structure of private companies in the industry is at least 50 percent local ownership.

“To attract increased value-added investments in the sector and thereby create more job opportunities for Ghanaians, the Ministry of Energy in collaboration with other relevant industry stakeholders has put together a draft local content policy that advocates a different percentage regime of local partnership which is yet to be approved by cabinet.

“This, in turn, will increase the industry’s contribution to national economic development, but will be more significant if local participation is enhanced,” he said.

Despite the push for stronger local players, Mr. Tampuli said the authority may have to reduce the number of Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) by the end of this year, due to the outcome of a comprehensive review of the sector which shows that only six BDCs account for about 52 percent of imported petroleum products.

“The review of the operations of the Petroleum Service Providers will result in restructuring the supply chain of petroleum products for retail at the pumps to the public. This restructuring will create more business opportunities for Ghanaians and increase accessibility,” he told the chamber.

The NPA has issued 30 different categories of licences to applicants to undertake business operations in the petroleum downstream industry. Some of the licences issued include: Bulk Distribution Company licences (BDCs); Oil Marketing Companies licences (OMC); Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketing Companies (LPGMCs) licences; Oil Trading Company licences (OTCs); and Petroleum Products Export licences.

With 41 BDC licences, 102 OMC licences, 41 LPGMCs licences, 14 OTCs and 20 Export licenses, some of these companies have either reduced their operational capacities or halted operations entirely due to indebtedness to banks and unfair market practices by the big players, according to the aggrieved ones.

Cabinet measures on tackling gas explosions

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday, on the advice of his cabinet, directed that steps be taken to give comfort to and ensure safety of the citizenry after the deadly gas explosion that took place at Atomic Junction on Saturday, October 7, which resulted in the loss of seven lives, 132 injuries and the destruction of valuable property.

One of the major actions to be taken includes the siting of LPG Bottling Plants away from congested commercial and population centres. This means bottling plants will have to procure, brand, maintain and fill empty cylinders to be distributed to consumers and households through retail outlets – but low risk stations will be designated for the supply of gas to vehicles. Below are the nine major steps to be taken.

• Immediate inspection of all gas stations and the vigorous enforcement of existing regulations by the National Petroleum Authority.
• Review of the current licencing regime to ensure that only those with demonstrable capacity and competence engage in the LPG distribution business.
• Institution of mandatory training and certification of the staff of Regulators, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and LPG Marketing Companies to ensure the safe handling of LPG.
• Review the safety protocols along the entire value chain through the combined efforts of the Environmental Protection  Agency (EPA), the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), National Fire Service (NFS), Town and Country Planning Department of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and the Factories Inspectorate Department of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.
• Deployment of a task force, within 30 days, to assess the risk that our current LPG infrastructure poses in terms of public health and safety. High-risk stations will be immediately closed down, in accordance with relevant law and without regard to any political or special interests. Low-risk stations will be designated for the supply of gas for vehicles with improved safety standards.
• The immediate incorporation of standards and guidelines developed by Ghana Standards Authority on the handling, storage and distribution of LPG and other petroleum products as technical regulations to strengthen the enforcement regime.
• The recruitment by NPA of 200 safety auditors to join the staff of the Factories Inspectorate Department of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, to check regularly on all stations to ensure full compliance with safety standards and practices.
• Expedition of action by the Fire Service and the Police Service for on-going investigations. Any operator or regulatory official, against whom any act of criminal negligence is established will face the full rigors of the law.
• Immediate cessation, until further notice, of all construction of facilities intended for use as gas or petroleum retail stations.

Donewell Insurance Company, one of the leading underwriting firms in the country,  made a landmark payment of GH?12,917,168 last week in claims to Kingdom Books and Stationery.

The amount will help restore the company to its original state after fire gutted the Prampram warehouse of the books and stationery dealer barely three months ago.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Seth Aklasi who made the presentation, indicated that the payment is in fulfilment of the company’s promise to provide the needed cushioning for its policyholders in their time of need.

Financial Controller for Kingdom Books and Stationery, Peter Akomaning, expressed gratitude to the management of Donewell Insurance Company Limited for its timely response to the unfortunate incident.

It is recalled that a fire outbreak destroyed the Prampram warehouse of Kingdom Books and Stationary Limited, running into millions of Ghana cedis.

According to a security guard at the facility, the fire started from what he suspected was an electrical fault.

Source: thebftonline.com/Ghana

Board Chairman of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Prof. Douglas Boateng, has underlined the need for further review of the authority’s regulations to make it compulsory for procurement practitioners to be licenced to operate.

That, he said, is the best way to ensure ethical standards within the procurement practice and to promote value for money transactions in the public sector.

Speaking at the opening of the Ghana Office of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) in Accra, he said: “The Public Procurement Act should be reviewed to ensure that procurement practitioners are licenced from a recognised local institution. This will help to professionalise procurement practice in the country”.

The view of the renowned procurement expert is in tune with that of others in the procurement field who opine that licencing practitioners could curtail the age-old issue of corruption in public sector procurement.

The argument is that if procurement practitioners are licenced, as is done in the legal and medical disciplines, they will be forced to go about their duty in line with set standards and ethics for fear of losing their licence.

Prof. Boateng predicted that by 2025 procurement and supply chain will be a key functional instrument for the aggressive industrialisation of this country.

“But to achieve that, there is a need for procurement practitioners to be moved from the backroom to the boardroom in the decision-making process of every organisation. We must also accelerate procurement-related human capital development,” he noted.

CIPS Ghana office

The CIPS Ghana Office will serve as the professional body for the procurement and supply chain profession in the country.

Working for the good of the profession and the public, professional body status ensures that CIPS will champion raising of standards in the profession through its professional qualifications, leading-edge thinking and research, and driving the professional procurement agenda across the world.

Director of Customer Relations at CIPS-UK, Duncan Brock, said at the launch: “CIPS is delighted to have been given this recognition as we start our official journey in Ghana.  CIPS is the only professional body in the world to set the global standard and promote a code of conduct for procurement and supply practice, and we are delighted to be able to better support our Ghanaian community”.

CIPS Ghana Country Manager, Stella Addo, said her office will be a centre for research and insights that will help build an efficient procurement force to push government’s quest to fight corruption in the country.

She called for strong collaboration among other industry actors to ensure that the institute achieves its intended purpose, and to help drive forward the procurement profession.

Source: Patrick PAINTSIL/thebftonline.com/Ghana

Some communities in the Northern Regions are expected to benefit from government’s One Village, One Dam programme when it commences in December.

According to the Deputy Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Sagre Bambangi, the programme is expected to commence in the dry season, which is expected sometime in December 2017.

“In fact, engineers and some other experts have gone all-out in the communities and already done some assessment, and so we have the first batch of communities that will benefit from this programme immediately we kick-start,” he told Parliament.

Answering a question from the MP for Builsa North, James Agalga, regarding timelines for reconstruction of the Kasa Small Scale Irrigation Dam in his constituency, the Deputy Food and Agric Minister said the programme will also see to the rehabilitation of non-functioning dams.

“With the 1 Village, 1 Dam programme, we are going to repair existing dams that can be of good use to our people in Northern Ghana as well as the Savannah zones, and we are hoping to capture it in the 2018 budget and then we tackle the dams,” he said.

The One-Village-One-Dam policy is one of the flagship programmes of the Akufo-Addo administration aimed at ensuring all year-round agriculture in the three regions of the North, through the construction of irrigation dams in every village in that part of the country, at an estimated cost of over GH?2billion.

Dr. Bambangi also explained that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture will be having a consultative forum on a transformational plan dubbed the ‘Marshall Plan’ for agricultural sector.

Only last week the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, announced that a Marshall Plan is expected to take government’s initiatives into a higher gear.

“Implementing the Marshall Plan for Agriculture will lead to structural transformation, which in turn will catalyse economic activities and connect major sectors of the Ghanaian economy. It will lead to higher farmer incomes, value addition, jobs and the opportunities that come with being globally competitive,” he said.

The country’s agricultural sector, which continues to be the anchor of the economy, has not performed well in recent years. In the past eight years, the annual rate of growth for the sector has declined from 7.4 percent in 2008 to 2.4 percent in 2015. This is below the six percent annual growth target set out in the Maputo Deceleration of 2003.

Financing has been a major barrier to growth in the agriculture sector, as lenders see it as a high-risk area due to its largely rain-dependent nature. To lure banks into the sector, the Bank of Ghana in October 2016 launched the Ghana Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL), which is providing a GH¢100million guarantee for lenders to the agric sector.

Source: Eugene DAVIS/thebftonline.com/Ghana

The fate of hundreds of workers at communication entity Airtel-Tigo is hanging in the balance as they begin an audition process to keep their jobs following finalisation of the merger between the two telcos.

Sources close to the merged entity have told the B&FT that in the coming days workers belonging to the two former entities will face an interview panel and justify why they have to be maintained, or whether they are capable of performing a bigger task in the new entity.

Currently, there are at least three types of workers who are likely to be affected. There are those who are permanent staff, those who are under contracts, and then those who are contracted under third party agencies.

Although it is not immediately known as to what fate will befall workers unable to make the grade, a source close to the merged entity stated that it is unlikely all the various workers will get the same redundancy package.

“All those affected will not be treated the same. To start with, they all don’t have the same contractual agreement with their former employers, and this is likely to play a key role in how they are treated in the event they don’t land a role in the new entity,” the source said, pleading anonymity.

Calling the shots

The discussions between the two companies which commenced in March 2017, got the seal of approval of the National Communications Authority earlier this month. Days after the regulator’s approval, the CEO of Airtel Ghana, Lucy Quist, announced that she is stepping down from her role – paving the way for Roshi Motman, CEO of Tigo, to assume the position of CEO of the new entity.

Of the two entities, Tigo clearly brings more to the table in terms of subscriber base – whether data or mobile. Also, Tigo is said to bring to the table its towers as compared to Airtel, which was renting towers from tower companies.

Thus, it is not surprising that Tigo would have a little edge over Airtel regarding how the various leadership roles of the new company are filled. With Ms. Motman in charge, many insiders are predicting that she will have a lot to say in how strategic positions are filled – signalling that some of her trusted lieutenants from Tigo will be given (maintain) key roles.

Airtel-Tigo market share

The merger transaction, which was concluded last week, has changed dynamics in the telecoms landscape – with the new entity becoming the second-biggest operator after MTN, which controls almost half of the voice market (47.54 percent).

According to the July 2017 industry data released by the telecoms regulator, Tigo had voice subscribers of 5,360,443 which is about 14.8 percent of the market share, whereas Airtel’s 4,236,788 makes up 11.4 percent of the market share.

Together, the new entity – based on the July figures – should have a little over 9.7 million voice subscribers (26.2 percent), leaving Vodafone’s 8,773,444 (24 percent) at a close third in the ranking of market shares.

Although the new entity leapfrogs Vodafone to become second biggest telco in Ghana, it is worth noting that Vodafone has an impressive growth rate and still possesses the potential to reclaim the number-two spot.

Between June and July this year, Vodafone recorded more than 140,000 new subscribers, representing a more than 1.46 percent increase in its market share.

On the mobile data market share, however, the new entity clearly trumps Vodafone. The merger will see Airtel-Tigo have a combined market share of more than 5.76 million data subscribers as compared to the 3.64 million users of Vodafone, if figures from the NCA are anything to go by.