The financial viability of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has come under question should it rely solely on funds generated from its operations.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), has disclosed that GNPC must die off if it does not receive cash allocations from the Petroleum Holding Fund by 2026 per the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.
Technical Manager at PIAC, Mark Agyemang, speaking on the topic ‘Highlights of PIAC Issue Paper II’ on Time with PIAC, indicated that these burdens on GNPC are causing financial “headaches” for the corporation.
“The government is responsible for the development of the country. These state-owned enterprises can come in through corporate social responsibility or investment, as you may want to call it. We have instances, which we have documented extensively, where the government will ask GNPC to pre-finance or give guaranties or give loans to other state-owned enterprises.
“We have the case of VRA, we have the Karpowership, we have ECG, we have the western corridor road enclaves, and we have the Tema Oil Refinery, where currently, as we speak, GNPC is owed almost to the tune of a billion dollars. And the state is supposed to pay them but it is the same state that is funding them. You see the dichotomy here. It is an issue and that actually causes financial headaches to the corporation.”
Mr. Agyemang believes the time has come for the GNPC to be financially independent, advocating for a review of the P.N.D.C.L 64.
