Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Dr Patrick Kwaku Ofori, has disclosed that the teeming number of members within the Chamber is beyond his control.

According to him, despite the fact that there have been concerns about the crowding of the BOD space especially with Ghana being a small country, he noted that the Chamber does not have the power to regulate the space or issue licenses to players in the industry.

Dr Ofori explained that the power to control is within the remits of the National Petroleum Authority. He indicated that the issue is more of a regulatory and policy directive and not one for the Chamber.

“We have a large membership and that is something that is beyond our control. Under normal circumstances you’d say that the bigger your membership, you’re likely to receive more in terms of subscription payment. But I’d be looking at it from a nationalistic perspective and what you’re saying about the numbers and how many of them are trading. How many of them are actually trading on a regular basis? And this is something that is more about regulatory and policy directive.”
Dr Patrick Kwaku Ofori

Dr Ofori emphasized that the Chamber does not grant members with licenses to operate, neither are they the ones that are supposed to set the benchmark for enforcement of those licensing regimes and the requirements. He stated that the kind of reporting and the standards that are expected from the Chamber is beyond the reach of the Chamber, as it is within the regulator’s perspective or purview.

Licensing CBOD members by National Petroleum Authority

The CEO of CBOD highlighted that while some license holders do not actively participate in the BOD space, he’s optimistic that as the NPA develops new performance criteria, it would help streamline the industry and provide the needed structures and policy framework for the development of the space.

“But what we are so happy about is that, setting up a certain performance criteria that makes it so elaborate and then also conducive and that once you know that there are certain targets and certain advantages that exist for our membership or people who are doing the right thing to be able to leverage on.”
Dr Patrick Kwaku Ofori

Dr Ofori asserted that if some twenty or fifteen of the membership who have traded and have been supported to build the necessary reporting mechanism and the internal governance and regulatory requirements and structures by now, the Chamber could have also had a local form of Trafis or the Glencores that would have been maybe exporting to other countries to also be earning the much needed forex that the country is in need of.

“So there are conversations going on about how they can streamline the sector. But this is something that we as a Chamber cannot necessarily set the guidelines.”
Dr Patrick Kwaku Ofori