Energy expert, Dr Yussif Sulemana, has called on government and stakeholders involved in the planned sale of assets of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to bring clarity on the deal.
According to him, there’s a bit of “uncertainties, shadowness and opacity” within the reported deal. Owing to this, he expressed the need for government to take advantage of the opportunity to come out to clear and explain to interested parties on the real intent of the state on the refinery.
“If an investor is coming and there is clarity in what the investor has to offer on the table, the quantum is another thing we can talk about. But is the investor credible enough, has he got the requisite financial ability to be able to champion whatever he is saying? Because in this case, I can say there’s no time so far as this refinery is concerned. Time is of essence. So, any potential investor who is coming on board will have to show all the seriousness, with a lot of clarity in whatever is going on. Other than that, it’s going to be difficult.”
Dr Yussif Sulemana
Dr Sulemana indicated that the deal could however have some good impact on the economy and the refinery at large. He explained that prior to this deal, there was a lot of “inertia” at the refinery. So, on the surface, he noted that the deal could be the other alternative that will bring TOR to life and profitability mode.
“But I think that is not the situation here… In fact, it’s not only civil society organisations, I think even the union guys from the refinery equally are experiencing a bit of misgivings with respect to the whole thing…”
Dr Yussif Sulemana
Call for clarity on potential bidders
Furthermore, Dr Sulemana noted that per information available to him, if it was a sole person in charge, then it might bode well for the country. However, he stated that in this case, there are other entities who are also interested in the deal.
“So, what I will call is that if we do have other potential bidders who are also interested in the deal, they should open them up because competition will bring efficiency… It should be opened up to whoever is interested, but time is of the essence.”
Dr Yussif Sulemana
Commenting on the reports that government is to lease TOR worth $700 million to a private company for six years, and that during that time, the company is to refine 8 million barrels of oil a year and pay $1 million every year as rent, Dr Sulemana disclosed despite the investor standing the chance to benefit from several hundred millions of dollars, he doesn’t have any problem as far as the refinery is going to run and run efficiently.
“It is better than the refinery lying down. However, a deal of such mammoth nature in terms of quantum and stakes that are involved, and we don’t hear anything from government and stakeholders that are involved, that is worrying and that brings a lot of uncertainties and transparency issues… So, if there’s nothing to hide, I think it’s beautiful, let them come out tell all stakeholders who are the people behind the deal…”
Dr Yussif Sulemana
Meanwhile, Vice President of IMANI-Africa, Kofi Bentil, has demanded the withdrawal of a planned sale of assets of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) by government.
According to him, the deal is wrong and does not give Ghana value for money.
“Our problem with this particular deal is that it is totally opaque. We have to go underground and find out all kinds of ways on the documentation and the deal is bad. We don’t know who the real directors are and our checks are showing that they are fronts for other people. It is unfortunate and we hope that is clarified.”
Kofi Bentil
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