GHANA

AT A GLANCE
Head of Government: President John Atta Mills
Next election: 2012
Capital: Accra
Population: 23.9 million (UN, 2008)
Independence: 1957 from UK
Human Development Index (HDI): 142nd out of 179 countries
Gender Gap Index (GGI): 77th out of 130 countries
Gross National Income (GNI) per capita: US$590

 

Turning Oil and Gas Wealth into Sustainable and Equitable Development

Status: Complete, 2008
Local Organization: Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ministry of Energy and Ghana Petroleum Commission
Canadian Expert: Diana Dalton, Chair of the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board

Since recently discovering offshore oil, Ghana has asked Canada and others to provide technical support in dealing with the revenue, regulatory and legislative issues of offshore oil.  Diana Dalton, Chair of the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, travelled to Accra to contribute to a workshop on best practices for management of offshore petroleum resources and their contribution to the Ghanaian economy. She presented the Canadian model, its strengths and weakness and its applicability to Ghana, and explained the management of revenues, the establishment of legislation, regulations, agreements and contracts governing the extraction and management of petroleum resources.  She has recommended that Canada assist Ghana in the health and safety of offshore petroleum facilities.

“Ghana has a highly educated professional class and is set to become an economic success if it can get its legislative and administrative systems in order to deal with the development of petroleum. This is a country which Canada should be helping with its institutional strengthening.” Diana Dalton