By Fred Kojo Amoah

The Association of Ghana Industries has organized the second Local Content matchmaking exhibition and conference in Accra to increase the participation of more local industries in the oil and gas industry and other strategic sectors of the Ghana’s economy.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the four day event on the theme “promoting local content development”, at the Accra international conference center on Monday 5th December 2011, Nana Owusu-Afari president of the Association of Ghana Industries stated that, the Involvement of Ghanaian businesses along the entire value chain is was important and crucial if Ghana was to benefit fully form our oil resource. Adding that, income from royalties and taxes alone cannot meet the developmental needs of Ghana.

He said, the AGI believes that the development of local content across all sectors of the Ghanaian economy is critical if Ghana is to sustain the economic gains it has made in the past years and as well attain upper middle income level for the industrial development.

He said, the AGI is willing to partner with mining companies and other energy companies in their quest to develop their own local content and also to help implement their initiatives”

Mr. Dai Jones President of Tullow Ghana, on his part said, Tullow Ghana will conduct its business in strict adherence to the standards of the oil industry and will always champion and promote local content in its business. He said the oil firm is on track to achieve its staff profile of 90% Ghanaian component by the end of its third year of operations in Ghana.

“259 million dollars has been spent on contractors and structures and by 2014, 90 percent of Ghanaians will be workers and contractors of Tullow oil due to the local content policy” Mr. Jones stated.

He said 24 Ghanaians were sponsored on a free scholarship to study different courses in the oil and gas sector; thus masters degree with 50 more to be trained by the end of 2014.

Minister for Trade and Industry, Hon Ms Hannah Tetteh said, government since the discovery of oil has put in place relevant policies and laws to enhance the participation of local industries…and they should position themselves in order to fully benefit from the chain of economic activities being generated from the linkages of the oil and gas industry with other key sectors of the economy.

She said the expansion of this year’s conference to include sectors such as mining, construction, energy, metal, banking and insurance focuses on local content in a broader context therefore providing Ghanaians with a broader base for participation and also to benefit from the industry.

“We are aware of the potential challenges in the implementation of local content; there will be the need to develop a comprehensive and integrated national capacity building program, training centers and institutions to expand our relatively undeveloped industrial base.

Adding that, government will develop a local content policy in 2012 to significantly enhance the level of participation of Ghanaians in the economy.”

She however cautioned SME’s to be circumspect in their approach and make sure that their benefits are evenly spread in order not to create dissatisfaction among others and pledged government support for the AGI to address potential challenges to ensure full participation of Ghanaian companies in the oil and gas industry.

This years conference organized by the AGI is the second of its kind and has been expanded to included other sectors of the economy to promote maximum participation.