The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) says for the petroleum industry in Ghana to achieve openness and competitiveness in its bidding processes, there is a need to establish strong external oversight and social accountability systems throughout the processes.
It also expected that such an establishment would further ensure efficient implementation of the petroleum upstream regulatory policy.
The NRGI believes this would ensure an objective assessment of the country’s adherence to its law, the new Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act (Act 919), and best practice standards.
The suggestion was necessitated by Ghana’s signing of various international protocols and standards, including the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative; Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), and Open Contracting, which all enjoin Ghana to ensure openness in its contracting processes.
Nafi Chinery, West Regional Africa Manager at NRGI, addressing stakeholders recently in Accra, stated that the development and publication of clear prequalification conditions, bid assessment criteria, and selection process, represent some of the key benchmarks for assessing Ghana’s performance as it establishes an open contracting regime in its upstream petroleum sector.
The NRGI and Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) organised a Best Practice Workshop for the Ministry of Energy’s Bid and Licensing Round Committee in support of the government’s intention in July 2018.
The aim of supporting the bid preparations by providing an opportunity for the Ministry is to learn about the experiences of other countries, and hear from experts, including international financial and donor institutions, which have provided technical assistance to governments in conducting bid rounds.
“Thus, in December 2018, the NRGI and GOGIG (the Ghana Oil and Gas for Inclusive Growth) supported the formation of the Bid and Licensing Round (BLR) Monitoring Group, composed of nine civil society organisations and the media to serve as a strong external oversight and social accountability body. The group tasked itself to produce reports at the various stages of the licensing process,” he added.
According to him, in July 2019, the NRGI, together with other civil society organisations, launched the pre-qualification stage report alongside providing training on the licensing process to select journalists and media houses to ensure accurate reportage. He added that this was to ensure that Ghanaians are well informed on the bid processes to be able to demand transparency from the government.
Mrs Chinery explained that the pre-qualification stage report is to document and evaluate the licensing round process based on transparency, to serve as a reference document for engaging government to ensure transparency in future licenses process.
“Transparency has the potential to reduce corruption and ensure that the country optimises the benefits from the extraction of its natural resources. It provides a fair playing field for companies,” he added.
The post Ghana’s petroleum industry needs oversight accountability systems appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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