The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has expressed concerns about the financial viability of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) if it is weaned off cash allocations from the Petroleum Holding Fund by 2026, as mandated by the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.
PIAC highlights that GNPC is burdened with nearly $1 billion in debts owed by the government and its agencies, raising doubts about its ability to sustain operations without external funding. Mark Agyemang, PIAC’s Technical Manager, shared these concerns during an episode of Time with PIAC while discussing the committee’s latest issue paper.
Agyemang pointed out that GNPC has frequently been called upon to pre-finance or guarantee loans for other state-owned enterprises, including the Volta River Authority (VRA), Karpowership, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), and the Tema Oil Refinery. These financial obligations have significantly strained GNPC’s finances.
“GNPC is currently owed almost $1 billion by various state entities, and while the state is supposed to fund the corporation, it is the same state that owes it. This dichotomy is creating financial headaches for the corporation,” Agyemang stated.
In light of these challenges, he advocates for a review of P.N.D.C.L 64, the law establishing GNPC, to enable the company to assert its financial independence. Agyemang suggests diversifying GNPC’s governance structure to include independent appointees, which could empower the corporation to resist government demands that negatively impact its financial health.
