Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Victoria Emefa Hardcastle, says she is optimistic that the guidelines to operate the Local Content Fund, which is meant to support local companies in the oil and gas sector, will be launched by the third quarter of this year.
Speaking at the Western Regional House of Chiefs in Sekondi, she indicated that they are guarding against the Fund becoming depleted, because people think it is government money. "The team from the Commission, has been working for a few years on having the guidelines approved.
Hopefully when we get the Board in the very near future, the guidelines can be approved and (it) can be launched by the third quarter of this year" "We will then let the banks themselves use their capacity to do the risks assessment.
We do not want the Fund to become depleted …people do not want to pay back because, they are under the notion that it's government money. " The Local Content Fund, established under the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 2016 (Act 919), is designed to provide concessionary loans to Ghanaian companies operating in the oil and gas sector.
