Rexford Addi-Kissiedu
FIRST NATIONAL Bank, a leading universal bank in Ghana, has announced it would be participating in discussions on enhancing local content for upstream petroleum at this year’s conference in Takoradi in the Western Region.
This event, themed “Sustaining local content development through enhanced exploration and production activities in the era of energy transition,” would be hosted by the Petroleum Commission of Ghana.
It would promote talks on enhancing exploration and production activities as well as the development of marginal fields to sustain local content development, in preparation towards the energy transition.
The Conference and Exhibition would also provide a platform for stakeholders and players in the upstream oil and gas industry to deliberate on critical issues affecting the industry, explore investment opportunities, build business networks and deepen local content development.
Currently over 300 indigenous companies have been registered under the local content policy and legislation, but less than 5 per cent possess the financial wherewithal or have built the requisite capacity to contribute at least 5 per cent capital and other technology requirements for exploration and production (E&P) which ranges between US$100-150 million.
Rexford Addi-Kissiedu, Resources Portfolio Manager of First National Bank Corporate and Investment Banking Division, affirmed that to improve the capacity situation, there was the need to get experienced infrastructure experts who would assist with project preparation, prioritisation and funding solutions. “First National Bank’s corporate and investment portfolio for the energy sector has the capacity to support the upstream value chain activities in Ghana,” he stated.
That, he mentioned, was on account that the bank continued to offer funding solutions to a wide array of players in the infrastructure space from debt to equity.
“We are also able to play a financial advisory role in these projects which is evidenced by the recent Beitbridge border project in Zimbabwe where our team from the Rand Merchant Bank did not only act as a lead arranger but financial advisors as well.”
Mr. Addi-Kissiedu reiterated that capacity constraints on the government side could be remedied by skills sharing and more collaboration between the private and public sectors.
“If we are able to actively broker relationships with key players and formulate consortia that hold the skills to bid, we can definitely deliver exceptional financial solutions to support the sector. To move forward as a nation, we need to champion partnership and innovation,” he emphasised adding “We believe that partnership is the way to go. While there may be risks involved in infrastructure investment, and often a steep learning curve, the rewards for the country are exponential.”
A business desk report