President John Dramani Mahama has made a strong appeal to international oil companies operating in Ghana, urging them to ramp up oil production before the global pivot to renewable energy diminishes the value of the country’s petroleum reserves.
Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, President Mahama emphasized the need for urgency, warning that the window for fossil fuel profitability is rapidly closing.
“Oil is in transition. Everybody who has any assets should be pumping like there’s no tomorrow. I will lay a red carpet to anybody who wants to drill and pump oil because in the next decade or two, the world would have made a transition to renewables,” the President said.
While pushing for aggressive extraction, President Mahama reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to sustainable energy. He noted that under the country’s Renewable Energy Act, “at least 10 percent of our energy mix should come from renewable sources.”
He also referenced the recent challenges faced by oil company ENI in Ghana, revealing how legal disputes once forced the Italian energy firm to relocate key staff.
“ENI was held in contempt and they had to move all their expatriate management to Cote d’Ivoire. Now the company is back and they are drilling again,” he said.
