Ghana’s Oil Boom – A Readiness Report Card

Report Launch: Ghana’s Oil Boom – A Readiness Report Card 

A panel discussion sponsored by Oxfam America 

Mohammed Amin Adam

Nana Ama Yirrah

Ishac Diwan

Moderator – Ian Gary 

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Root Room

1779 Massachusetts Ave NW

Washington, D.C.

Read the report.

Space is limited and RSVPs are required. Please RSVP by noon on Monday, April 18 to Katie Martorana - kmartorana@oxfamamerica.org. 

Ghana discovered oil in commercial quantities in June 2007, and became Africa's newest oil producer with the start of production of the Jubilee field last December. While government officials remain confident that the country will be able to avoid some of the problems related to the sudden onset of oil wealth, many local and international observers remain concerned that Ghana's enviable track record of economic, social and democratic development over the last 20 years may be eroded by the challenges posed by the oil boom. With the start of oil production, and general elections in 2012 on the horizon, all eyes are on Ghana to get it right. This Readiness Report Card, issued by the Ghana Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, evaluates the performance of government in managing the challenges the emerging oil sector presents and to draw urgent attention to issues that need immediate action by the government and its partners. The report also assesses the performance and contributions of parliament, donors, companies and civil society. 

Speakers

H. E. Ambassador Daniel Ohene Agyekum was appointed as ambassador to the United States in January 2009 by President John Evans Atta Mills and has served in various diplomatic and political posts since 1971. He has served as Deputy Director, Middle East and Asia Division, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and served for six years as Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada. Ambassador Ohene Agyekum served as a substantive Minister in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government (1993-1998) and has also served as Greater Accra Regional Minister and Minister of Chieftaincy Affairs and State Protocol. Ambassador Ohene Agyekum has a Bachelor of Arts, Honors Degree in History from the University of Ghana, Legon, and joined the Ghana Foreign Service in 1965.  He has a post graduate Diploma in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and an International Certificate in Diplomacy the Australian National University.

Peter Allum is Division Chief with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) African Department. While at the IMF, Peter held the position of IMF Resident Representative in Uganda and has a wide range of country experience in former Societ Union countries, the Middle East, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to his career at the IMF in 1991, Peter worked at the British Embassy in Washington, DC, the United Kingdom (UK) Treasury and the UK Department of Trade and Industry. He holds an MA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and a PhD in Economics from Stanford University. 

Ishac Diwan, a Canadian national joined the World Bank in 1987 through the Young Professionals Program as an Economist in the Debt and International Investment Division of the International Economics Department. He has since held various positions, his most recent assignment being Country Director, Ethiopia and Sudan. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to joining the World Bank, he was Assistant Professor of Finance at New York University.

Dr. Augustine Tawiah is a lecturer on leadership, governance and research methods and is the coordinator of the Regional Extractive Industries Knowledge Hub at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Affairs (GIMPA) in Accra. He is a steering committee member of the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas in Ghana, coordinator of the Partnership for Quality Education in Ghana and the President of the Ghana Association of Educational Planners and Administrators.He is a tertiary educator who lectures, writes, consults, and speaks on human and social development, leadership, governance, adult education, organizational change, and professional development. Born and raised in his native Ghana, he obtained a BA Hons in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Ghana. He also holds advanced degrees from Lipscomb University (Master of Arts), Harding Graduate School of Religion (Master of Divinity & Doctor of Ministry), and The University of Memphis (Master of Science in Leadership & Policy Studies and the Doctor of Education in Leadership). 

Mohammed Amin Adam is an energy economist by profession and currently serves as the National Oil Coordinator of Publish What You Pay – Ghana, a civil society coalition focused on promoting the transparent and accountable management of oil and mineral wealth. He holds a B. A. (Hons) Degree in Economics and a Master of Philosophy (Economics) from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He is also a PhD candidate in Petroleum Economics and Policy at the University of Dundee (UK). Mr. Adam was an Energy Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Energy of Ghana and a former Commissioner of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and also has considerable experience in public service having served his country as a Deputy Minister of State and a Mayor of Ghana’s third city, Tamale. 

Ian Gary is Senior Policy Manager for Extractive Industries with Oxfam America, and directs the organization’s policy and advocacy work on oil/gas and transparency related issues. Prior to joining Oxfam in 2005, Ian was Strategic Issues Advisor – Extractive Industries at Catholic Relief Services (CRS) from 1999 to 2005. He has held positions with the Ford Foundation as well as international development organizations in the U.S. and Africa. Ian is the author of the Oxfam America report Ghana’s Big Test: Oil’s Challenge to Democratic Development (2009); co-author, with Terry Lynn Karl of Stanford University, of the CRS report Bottom of the Barrel: Africa’s Oil Boom and the Poor (2003); and co-author of Chad’s Oil: Miracle or Mirage? (2005), co-authored with Nikki Reisch and issued by CRS and Bank Information Center.

Nana Ama Yirrah is the Executive Director of COLANDEF, a non-governmental development organization committed to strengthening customary land governance and natural resource management, policy advocacy, local governance strengthening research and advocacy. In the Oil and Gas sector, she has worked to document experiences of large scale acquisitions relating to oil activities and their implications on indigenous land rights; and also facilitating participatory processes for the design and implementation of Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) of Oil Companies in Ghana. Nana Ama is the Vice Chairperson of the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas in Ghana and has played an active role in advocating for appropriate governance framework documents to guide the oil and gas sector. She is also a member of the Civil Society Coalition on Land (CICOL), the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) and the Women’s Land Link Africa (WLLA).She is currently preparing her Master’s Thesis on the topic ‘Assessing the Implementation Challenges of the Ghana Land Administration Project 2004-2008’ under a Master’s Program in Development Policy and Planning.