CEO of the Energy Chamber of T&T Dr. Thackwray “Dax” Driver is calling for a national strategy to explore opportunities in Ghana harnessing all available skills in the state and private sectors. He said the West African nation is an important market that T&T should continue to explore.
Driver, who was part of the 12-member delegation that accompanied Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on his official visit to Ghana last week, said: “The Energy Chamber has placed a strong strategic priority of diversifying our exports through growth in the export of energy services. Ghana has been one of the key markets that we have been working on for many years and this was my fifth visit to Ghana.
“The Energy Chamber has a memorandum of understanding with the Sekondi-Takoradi Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the western region of Ghana and we have an extremely strong and vibrant relationship with the private-sector in Sekondi-Takoradi.”
Driver said T&T's long history in the oil and gas industry and its success in training local talent means there is significant capacity to contribute to oil and gas projects outside of the country.
“If there are skills shortages in specific areas, we have a long history of being able to tap into international expertise and make this available as needed.” he said.
Noting the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) interest in building a gas-pipelines or gas-processing plants in Ghana, Driver said such facilities will require significant capital investment.
“Realistically, the National Gas Company is the only Trinidad and Tobago company with the necessary balance sheet to undertake such a significant investment, though there may be space for other T&T private-sector companies to take minority shareholdings in such a venture.
“There are, however, smaller investment opportunities in Ghana that may be attractive to T&T private-sector companies, especially in the energy services sector and in the training sector.
“I expect that the Inter-American Development Bank will assess each investment opportunity on its merits, but the involvement of the IDB in such a project could be very beneficial, especially as their involvement may help encourage capital investment from other sources.”