Page 10 - AfrOil Week 12 2023

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Cheaper crude, the “gold-for-oil” scheme and steady the cedi.
a government decision to unilaterally stop pay- Ghana’s currency, among the worst perform-
ments on eurobonds and other external debt in ers last year due to concern about ballooning
December, pending an agreement with cred- debt loads, has eased 0.2% against the dollar
itors necessary to unlock a $3bn IMF bailout, since the start of February, after weakening 17%
has reduced demand for US dollars and helped in January, Bloomberg said on March 15. ™

ARDA appoints new president

REGIONAL DR. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has been energy transitions and a need for more energy
announced as the winner of an election for pres- security.
ident of the African Refiners and Distributors “Separate implementation strategies are
Association (ARDA), succeeding his predeces- needed for cleaner, lower-carbon generating
sor Marieme Ndoye Decraene from Senegal. fuels to meet the critical current demands and
Hamid is to be the first Ghanaian to lead the the urgent progress towards sustainable renew-
organisation, and the first president to come able energy, and a measured decade-by-decade
from a background of downstream petroleum sustainable financing plan is essential to ensure
regulation, unanimously ratified by The Execu- that investments are made to deliver a unique
tive Committee of the continental body and the African energy transition,” Kragha said.
AGM in Cape Town last week. He added that ARDA was “committed to
As leader of the organisation, Hamid will be securing project financing for strategic oppor-
responsible for chairing and running AGMs and tunities for the African downstream oil sector
executive committee meetings. and providing funds for refinery upgrades for
Annibor Kragha was also re-elected for a clean fuels storage and distribution, as well as
second term as executive secretary in a unani- petrochemical and LPG sector development.” ™
mous vote by ARDA and was quoted as saying
regarding Hamid’s position: “Dr. Abdul-Ha-
mid’s honesty and integrity in public life made
him a suitable candidate for the top job”.
Conceived in 2006, ARDA is an organisation
with its headquarters in Geneva, but operational
offices in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. The group was
the first pan-African organisation of its kind,
tailored towards the downstream oil sector
and comprised of members such as African oil
refiners, importers, terminal operators, major
marketers, distributors and industry regulators.
The Cape Town meeting also allowed Kragha
to stress the importance of keeping funds
invested in the continent rather than offshore
to provide financing for an estimated upcom-
ing $190bn annual energy cost in Africa due to Abdula-Hamid, ARDA’s first Ghanaian head (Photo: Facebook/@mustaphaahamid)

Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon sign deal

on joint offshore oil and gas development

EQ. GUINEA/CAMEROON THE governments of Equatorial Guinea and document during the heads of state summit of
Cameroon have signed a bilateral treaty for the the Economic and Monetary Community of
purpose of expanding cross-border oil and gas Central Africa (CEMAC) countries that was
development. held in Cameroon last week. The two leaders
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the have said they hope the treaty will create new
president of Equatorial Guinea, and Paul Biya, opportunities for hydrocarbon development
his Cameroonian counterpart, signed the and regional energy security.

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