CEO of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distribution Company, Senyo Hosi is calling on the government to refurbish all existing petroleum tanks to position Ghana to be the petroleum hub in the sub-region.
According to Senyo Hosi the petroleum tanks especially the ones in the Tema enclave needs to be fixed to attract more investments in the sector.
Energy Minister Peter Amewu in February this year disclosed that plans are underway to establish major infrastructure for refining and processing, discharge, storage, distribution, transportation and trading of petroleum products in the Western part of the country.
He said this development will position the country as a pivot for refined petroleum products in the West African sub-region and the world at large in the medium to long term.
Mr. Amewu also indicated that “the establishment of a petroleum hub is one of the government’s strategic anchor initiatives that would serve as a new pillar of growth in the Ghanaian economy.â€
But speaking to Joy FM, Senyo Hosi said some level of investment is needed to help the move by government succeed.
"We have a lot of redistribution happening offshore Lome, can we have them done onshore Ghana, we have a lot of tanks in Ghana, our utilisation is woeful, how do we optimise utilisation by trying to redirect volumes that are redistributed from Lome and have them redistributed from Tema, that's a low hanging fruit we have to fix, we have a refinery that has a lot of infrastructures and a good part of infrastructure.....some minimal investment can rather trigger into a major refinery base for Ghana, that may have to grow into a petrochemical thing, do we want to move to the Western region and have additional investment possibly but whatever investment you have now the market needs to see that you are able to optimise it, if we come into this market there is a value in your country but if what you have you are not optimising it why should people come and do something here, we need to make an additional case and policy case."
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