The government is to come out with a master plan to facilitate the development of an alternative transportation infrastructure for petroleum products in the country.
The infrastructure, which will include railway pipelines and river barges, will link Ghana with sub-regional markets as well as major demand centres across the country.
It will also deepen the country’s regional integration agenda and fulfil objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who disclosed this at the opening of the Third Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCON) in Accra yesterday, said the ministerial committee working on the master plan had since finalised its work which would be presented to Cabinet for consideration.
“For us as a country, our vision for the petroleum downstream industry is to ensure that Ghana becomes a key player in the industry in the West African sub-region,” he said.
According to Dr Bawumia, Ghana’s unique geographical location, coupled with democratic stability and security “requires that we provide leadership in building an integrated infrastructure to serve the sub-regional petroleum industry.”
Organised by the Ministry of Energy and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), in partnership with the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors and the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, the two-day conference is on the theme: ‘Regional collaboration: A catalyst for transformation.”
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