The African Energy Chamber is proud to announce that Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Ghana’s Minister of Energy will participate at African Energy Week 2023, shaping dialogue around the need for oil and gas development to eradicate energy poverty in Africa.
With Ghana’s energy sector on the precipice of a transformation, the country’s Minister of Energy will participate at this year’s edition of the African Energy Week (AEW) conference – taking place from October 16-20 in Cape Town -, shaping critical dialogue around the need to amplify oil and gas investment in pursuit of making energy poverty history by 2030. Taking place under the theme, ‘The African Energy Renaissance: Prioritizing Energy Poverty, People, the Planet, Industrialization and Free Markets’, AEW 2023 will host Hon. Minister Prempeh in high-level panel discussions and exclusive networking sessions, enabling the minister to showcase the range of investment opportunities present across the west African country’s entire energy value chain.
With Ghana targeting to maximize its abundant oil and gas resources with the aim of accelerating energy security and socioeconomic growth, opportunities for global hydrocarbon players within the west African country are rapidly growing. In the oil sector, Ghana – under the leadership of Hon. Minister Prempeh – is looking at expanding reserves from the current 660 million barrels as well as production from the current 176,000 barrels per day through a series of E&P campaigns. This presents a huge opportunity for the country to attract new investments and upstream players. While firms such as Tullow Oil, Vitol, Kosmos Energy, and Eni have been sustainably driving the growth of Ghana’s oil sector, the government’s renewed focus to support ongoing progress by bringing in new and innovative oil drilling and recovery mechanisms has opened up an opportunity for new investments as well as the participation of services and upstream companies.
On the gas front, efforts by Ghana to maximize the exploitation of its 0.80 trillion cubic feet of reserves by increasing investments and infrastructure development across the entire value chain to meet local needs continues to position the country as an attractive investment destination for global low-carbon energy industry players as the energy transition takes center stage. While the west African country has been made strides towards improving infrastructure rollout with firms such as Genser Energy completing the buildup of a 110km pipeline in record time – within five month – more needs to be done from an investment perspective for the country to achieve its target of reaching universal energy access by 2030 on the back of gas exploitation. While planned projects such as the drilling of the Voltain Onshore Basin – targeted for Q1 2024 by the national oil company Ghana National Oil Company (GNPC) -; the development of a $150 million logistics hub by the GNPC; the construction of the $600 million Takorodi-Tema Interconnection project; and a GNPC_led $700 million gas processing plant present new opportunities for energy security and gross domestic product growth for Ghana, AEW 2023 represents the ideal platform for Hon. Minister Prempeh to showcase these opportunities, networking with potential investors and securing partners and funding for these projects. Furthermore, with Ghana seeking to expand both its natural gas storage and refinery capacity in the medium term to meet local demand and boost consumer access to clean cooking, AEW 2023, with its natural gas-focused investment forums, represents the platform of choice for Ghana to convert untapped opportunities within the gas industry into tangible developments.
On the renewables front, Ghana’s Renewable Energy Master Plan and Trade Policy in conjunction with the country’s massive untapped clean energy potential and a favorable regulatory environment have emerged as key pillars driving private sector participation and foreign direct investments in the west African country’s solar, wind and hydropower sectors. With Ghana prioritizing the diversification of its energy mix, the country has turned to regional and global partners, and AEW 2023 will be the place where such partnerships can be forged.
“The chamber is proud to host Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh at AEW 2023 and looks forward to the insights he will give around the country’s oil and gas ambitions. We commend the minister for revitalizing Ghana’s fiscal terms and regulatory environment, thereby making it investor friendly. With Ghana seeking to boost access to energy for its population, we believe that the Gas Master Plan, renewed focus on upstream developments and commitment to private sector inclusion will amplify the participation of new investors in the country,” stated NJ Ayuk, the Executive Chairman of the AEC.
AEW is the AEC’s annual event uniting African energy policymakers and companies with global investors to discuss the future of African energy. For more information about AEW, visit https://aecweek.com/
