Opoku Ahweneeh-Danquah
CHIEF EXECUTIVE Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Opoku Ahweneeh-Danquah, is leading a high-powered delegation to attend a meeting of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of National Oil Companies (NOCs) of African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) in Abuja, Nigeria.
The African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation is an intergovernmental energy organisation created to serve as a platform for African petroleum producing countries to cooperate, collaborate, and share knowledge and competences, with a view to maximising the developmental and welfare benefits accruable from petroleum exploitation activities in its member countries.
APPO currently has 16-member countries which includes Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, and Gabon. The rest are Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana.
It would be recalled that Mr. Ahweneeh-Danquah took over as the Chief Executive Officer of GNPC about three months ago and is fervently seeking strategic partnerships to reposition the Corporation considering the global energy transition.
His vision is to leverage on the competencies of GNPC into becoming a strategic partner in the paradigm shift from fossil fuels to renewables.
Commenting on his expectations prior to his departure, Mr. Ahweneeh-Danquah said the time has come for policy makers and operators to work in harmony to find a solution to the threat posed by the energy transition.
“At a time when traditional financiers of oil and gas are threatening to discontinue, do we leave all natural deposits untapped?”, he asked, adding that GNPC is continuously looking for strategic partners in financing Ghana’s oil and gas projects and is seeking for investors who will commit greatly to research and financing renewable energy projects in the country.
Speaking specifically about the conference, the GNPC chief executive noted that the seriousness of the energy transition calls for a complete rethink of the oil and gas industry’s operational model in Africa.
He stated that “for Africa to maximise returns from our fossil fuel, it behooves on us to collaborate in cross border oil and gas projects, the development of cross border oil and gas infrastructure and the creation of regional energy markets. I believe this begins with the commitment of the CEOs of all the NOCs and thus the significance of this conference.”
The conference is being hosted by the CEO of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kolo Kyari, and the keynote address will be given by Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General of the APPO.