Ghana removes fuel subsidy after 30 years

The Ghana National Petroleum Authority, NPA, has announced that the country will phase out fuel subsidies as part of measures to ensure stability in the downstream sector of its oil industry.

Abdul Hamid, the Chief Executive Officer of NPA, stated this during a presentation at the ongoing Africa Refiners and Distributors Week 2023, in Cape Town, South Africa.

According to Hamid, the Ghanaian government has also eliminated energy subsidies through the NPA.

“We have removed subsidies and deregulated our markets. Industries were shutting down because the government was finding it hard to find the money to provide subsidies and to this day industry is being powered by investments in the private sector and there are no complaints of supply.

“We are ensuring affordability and security for the vulnerable consumers through the removal of energy subsidies,” he said while speaking on more reforms implemented in the NPA.

He stated that the plans were put in place in response to global oil and petrol market volatility caused by the Russian-Ukraine war and energy transition policies.

“For the first time in 30 years, we have installed fuel caps as a measure to intervene and to control market instability,” he disclosed

Also, the NPA has established a special fund to assist refineries in increasing their capacity to 50 barrels of oil in order to meet the country’s growing demand