News Guide Africa

Tag: Dr Mohammed Amin Adams

  • DDEP participants to recover losses by 2026 – Fin Ministry

    Debt restructuring

     

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

     

    Participating individuals and corporate entities of the domestics debt exchange programme (DDEP) are likely to recover their delayed investment payment before end of 2026, the Finance Ministry has assured.

     

    The debt restructuring resulting from the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, have delayed investment payout of all those who invested in treasury notes and bonds issued by the Government of Ghana.

     

    However, the ministry expressed confidence that government’s long-term economic policies would lead to an economic rebound and significant improvements in the country’s macroeconomic indicators. Despite the challenges, government is committed to ensuring that those who have suffered losses will see a return on their investments within the next few years.

     

    “I do not have any doubt that in a year or two, those who have lost money will recover their money”, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adams when speaking during a monthly press briefing, last week. “I know they will be smiling to the bank. It has taken us a lot of effort to bring this economy back to this state. Many people doubted, but I want to reassure you that this recovery is not by accident but by strong policies.”

     

    The Finance Minister also addressed the country’s debt restructuring process, reiterating government’s pledge to honour all restructured debts in light of the economy’s positive outlook. He highlighted recent strong economic performance, which he believes will pave the way for the timely settlement of obligations.

     

    Dr. Adams confirmed that government is on track to meet its obligations to Eurobond holders before the January 2025 maturity date, marking a second consecutive achievement in fulfilling its debt commitments. The successful payment of USD520 million in coupon obligations in October 2024 demonstrated the government’s determination to maintain its creditworthiness.

     

    “Our next coupon payment will be 2nd January, we are ready. We are not going to default, we are ready,” he added.

     

     

  • NPA ordered to be effective in monitoring of OMCs pricing under G4O

    NPA ordered to be effective in monitoring of OMCs pricing under G4O

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

     

    The ministry of energy has bemoaned loose regulatory monitoring of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) which has benefited under the Gold for Oil (G4O)first consignment.

     

    A deputy minister at the ministry has revealed that, about 11 OMCs which received the cheaper oil under the new arrangement  did not reduce their pump price.

     

    The ministry is taken aback with the situation, indicating that had been a setback on the policy’s intent to improve the supply of the commodity, positively influence price change, and shore up the exchange reserve of the country. The deputy minister therefore called on the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to be up and doing in its monitoring role to ensure that the policy intent is achieved.

     

    “National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has to be very rigorous in ensuring that the framework that will be published to govern the pricing of the product is a strong framework”, Dr Amin Adam Mohammed, the Deputy Minister for Energy said in an interview.

     

    “And they have to ensure that they are able to monitor all those OMCs that will take the product to ensure they reflect in their pump prices.”

     

    Ghana piloted the Gold for Oil policy with the delivery of 41,000 metric tonnes from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which arrived at the Tema port on Sunday, January 15, 2023.

     

    However, Mr Duncan Amoah, the Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC), said it was encouraging to have more than 50 percent of OMC reducing their prices under the policy.

     

    He, called for “purposeful planning” with a clear objective of either ensuring fuel security or reduction in pump prices. That, he said, would require a constant supply of the commodity on the market to meet the demands.

     

    “You must be focused and know that 41 000 metric tonnes might not do the trick. So, If I am bringing 41, another cargo must come at 60, and must come at 70, to be able to contain the market demand.

     

    “If you are going to throw a little in the ocean and expect a ripple effect, you might not get it,” he said.

     

    The prices of fuel in Ghana are mainly determined by the world market price of the commodity, cedi depreciation, taxes and levies. As of November 2021, the government had imposed 12 different taxes and levies on petroleum products while the Cedi had declined by more than 55 per cent between January and October 2022.

     

    Mr Amoah urged the Bank to Ghana (BOG) to focus on addressing the volatility of the Cedi by, “using the gold to back the Cedi so that it can have a certain semblance of stability for trading.

     

    Consequently, Mr Alex Mould, a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), said the Gold-for-Oil policy was a smokescreen by some players to enter and control the oil import and gold export market using government apparatus.

     

    “People with the license to these things are not happy because they can be eliminated,” he stated.

  • Energy Transition: Africa needs to decarbonize oil and gas production – Dr Amin Adam

    Energy Transition: Africa needs to decarbonize oil and gas production – Dr Amin Adam

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    The Deputy Energy Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adams, has declared his unhappiness to comments ascribing that Africa should be allowed to produce oil to develop as the West did to develop their economies.

    He indicates that, Africa can and should produce or extract its crude oil only because it can be done better and not because it also want to pollute the environment to develop it nations. He believes, African nations which have oil resource can decarbonise the production process.

    As the global economies keep committing to the greener economy agenda by pledging an end to fossil fuels production and usage, Africa is yet to develop and produce its numerous potential oil blocks. This could delay the zero carbon emission target as subscribed to by almost all nations in the globe.

    “I am not a believer in the promoting that the developed countries developed with oil, and so they polluted so we shouldn’t be also allowed to pollute to develop I don’t subscribe to that”, Dr Amin said in an interview at the sidelines of the Africa Oil Week event in Cape Town, South Africa, last week. “Because if we do that, we are going to be reduced to a market of last resort, wherever we stand with old technologies while the rest of the world moves on with new technologies and that will be more expensive for us.” 

    “This is why I’ve indicated there are various ways by which we can decarbonize oil and gas production, that is my view on the table.

    “Others also say that, the funding for oil and gas is coming from the West, the developed countries, okay. And the developed countries usually will ensure that companies from including the upstream companies, in the financial competence, follow the policies, the policies of the government.

    “So, if we do not act with urgency, to reform our own systems to follow our own energy environment, and to ensure that we harness this potential without violating the policies of the government, it will not be better for us, you know.”

    In responding to a question that, whether the campaign to go renewables a conflicting to the numerous attempts countries are making to develop new oil and gas blocks, he responded in the negative.

    “No, we don’t see them to be conflict, they can reinforce each other, because you cannot have reliable supply of renewable energy, if you don’t have a base load. And the base load, you can get it from nuclear, you can get it from gas and get it  from petroleum. Because renewable is intermittent.

    “So, to supply renewable energy, you will need the other source. This is why in Ghana, we are advocating for our energy mix, which taps into all available resources that we have.

    “Of course, oil and gas is very important for us. But it says within the whole of Africa 50% of African countries are producing oil, and note, all the revenue that we get from export in particular 50% come from oil, so we can not just abandon it.

    “However, it is an opportunity for us to develop our resources in an environmentally friendly manner. We can do, for example, carbon capture and historic and innovation technology in many countries and particularly studies towards adopting that technology, we can move from the electric base production systems to hydraulic base production system using solar or wind, we are also seeing countries interested in launching what we call a carbon neutrality auctions, we are also looking at that as possibility.

    “So, we can do this in an environmentally friendly manner without compromising the effect that oil revenues have on our economy and transformation of our country.”