The Executive Director of the Africa Sustainable Energy Center (ASEC), Ing. Justice Ohene-Akoto, has issued a strong warning to government over proposals to channel the Ghana Petroleum Funds into domestic investments.
According to him, the move poses “serious fiscal risks” that could expose the economy to greater instability at a time when the country is still struggling to contain rising energy sector debts and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Speaking in an interview, Ing. Ohene-Akoto stressed that the petroleum funds were created primarily as buffers against external shocks and should not be repurposed without a clear national consensus or adequate safeguards.
“The Ghana Petroleum Funds, what we are saying is that it is usually used as an external stabilizer against commodity stocks and currency depreciation.”
Ing. Justice Ohene-Akoto, Executive Director of ASEC
According to him, many of the risks the funds are designed to mitigate are shaped by “geopolitical factors that you cannot control,” making their preservation essential.
The proposal to allow domestic investment of the funds, according to ASEC, could weaken Ghana’s resilience against external shocks.
Ohene-Akoto cautioned that diverting these resources would strip the country of one of its most vital financial protections. “Let’s keep the petroleum funds to do what it is doing,” he argued, insisting that the stabilisation purpose of the funds should not be altered.
Concerns Over Misuse of Existing Energy Levies
The ASEC Executive Director questioned why government is seeking alternative financing sources when existing revenue streams within the energy sector remain underutilized or in some cases, mismanaged.
“We collect a lot of other monies, like the 1 Ghana cedi levy on fuels this year. We also have the ESLA. Where are those monies?”
Ing. Justice Ohene-Akoto, Executive Director of ASEC
He further expressed concern about the lack of clarity on how funds from ESLA and other levies are being applied.
“We divert some of the ESLA’s and at the moment we don’t know where some of these funds are.”
Ing. Justice Ohene-Akoto, Executive Director of ASEC
According to him, consistent diversion and opaque use of statutory revenue is part of the reason the sector remains financially strained.
“There are a lot of times when we have diverted funds. We don’t know where those funds went.
“So, what we are saying is that the one-cedi levy and the ESLA be use for what we said we will use them for.”
Ing. Justice Ohene-Akoto, Executive Director of ASEC
He insisted that, if properly managed, these existing streams “should be able to solve majority and a chunk of our energy issues,” making it unnecessary to tamper with the petroleum funds.
Transparency, Accountability and Strict Enforcement Need
Ing. Ohene-Akoto outlined three priorities: transparency, accountability and strict policy enforcement to the Finance Ministry to restore financial sustainability to the energy sector.
He said, “What I’ll say is first transparency,” stressing the need to track and publicly report the use of energy sector levies.
He pointed out that even the cash waterfall mechanism, designed to streamline payments to Independent Power Producers (IPPs), lacks sufficient visibility.
He also argued that transparency must be tied to performance accountability across all sector institutions.
“We can’t just channel money into a sector where we put too much money, and then we don’t know where the monies are going.”
Ing. Justice Ohene-Akoto, Executive Director of ASEC
Ensuring that state agencies, utilities and IPPs meet performance targets would free up funds for other struggling sectors.
Ing. Ohene-Akoto concluded that maintaining the petroleum funds as originally intended remains crucial to ensuring national economic stability.
As pressures mount on energy sector challenges, he believes the country cannot afford to compromise its long-term safety buffers.
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