Dr Kofi Koduah Sarpong, Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), has been appointed inaugural Chairman of the Advisory Board of the New Producers Group (NPG).

A statement issued by NPG Advisory Board and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the Advisory Board whose activities were coordinated by Chatham House, the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), and the Commonwealth Secretariat was to advise the Group’s Secretariat on matters that directly concern the Group’s initiatives and further its mission, reach and impact.

It said other members of the Advisory Board at the meeting were: Mr Honey Malinga, Acting Director of the Directorate of Petroleum, Uganda; Mr Walid Nasr, Board Chairman of the Lebanese Petroleum Administration, Lebanon; and Madam Naadira Ogeer, Commercial Advisor – Commonwealth Secretariat.

The rest are Mr Patrick Heller–Advisor at NRGI and Dr Valerie Marcel – Project Lead and Co-founder of NPG.

The statement noted that the NPG was made of 35 countries from Africa, Caribbean and South America, Middle East, Eurasia, Europe and Asia Pacific and is a network of emerging petroleum producers, which provides contexts appropriate advice, capacity building and forums for exchange of ideas.

Speaking at the maiden meeting of the Advisory Board during the NPG annual meeting hosted by Uganda in November 2019, Dr Sarpong expressed his commitment to work to secure the growth and long-term viability of the Group.

The statement said at the Uganda meeting, board members agreed that new procedures and resources were needed to match the Group’s ambitions, while continued efforts towards building trust and insulating the NPG from commercial interests or politics remained essential.

It said they also wished to see the Group clarify its mission, governance structure and procedures to support its growth and sustainability.

"Different visions for the NPG’s future were reviewed, including the possibility of the Group becoming an inter-governmental organisation," it stated.

"The strength of the Group lies in its ability to be a platform for informal sharing of knowledge, members agreed that an interim step would be to formalize the organisation as an independent legal entity."

It said a position paper outlining a vision for the NPG’s evolution was expected to be submitted for the next board meeting in February 2020.