Ghana Removes Fuel Subsidy After 30 Years

The Ghana National Petroleum Authority has announced the removal of the country’s fuel subsidy after 30 years regulating the product.

“Removing the subsidy is part of the country’s regulatory measures to ensure downstream sector stability,” said Abdul Hamid, NPA’s Chief Executive Officer, said this during a presentation at the ongoing Africa Refiners and Distributors Week 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa.

According to the CEO, the Ghanaian government, through the NPA, has also removed energy subsidies.

“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,” Hamid said.

He stated that the plans were put in place in response to global oil and gas 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 said.

The NPA, according to Hamid, has also 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.