The Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr. George Aboagye, has stated that gas from the Jubilee Oil Field will not be flared and wasted as in the case of some oil producing countries. He said the Intention of the government was to put the gas find to its maximum use provided there was an opportunity for investors across the world to help develop the appropriate infrastructure that would transport the gas to industries and manufacturing plants as well as to residences. Mr. Aboagye, who made a presentation at the Ghana Trade and Investment Forum in Kuala Lumpur under the auspices of the GIPC, said the gas transportation business, lucrative as it was, was just one opportunity within the oil and gas sector in the country. The forum which distracted a large number of participants including well established companies in Ghana from Malaysia and potential investors was meant to expose the new business opportunities in the country to the Malaysians. The 20-member delegation was led by Mr. Aboagye and included; a Ghana’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Mr. Dan Abodakpui; the Chairman of the Parliamentary select Committee on Trade Industry and Tourism, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho; Mr. Seth Adjei Baah, President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) and the member of the Parliamentary Select Committee; representatives from the Ghana Free Zones Board and some members of the GNCCI. The various consultations made by various governments on how to make maximum use of the oil and gas find points to the fact that the gas to be produced from the country’s oil fields should be used as a major fuel to generate electricity. According to the GIPC, a World Bank report indicated that with the trend that the country was following, it was likely to be the world’s second fastest developing economy in the world by 2020. This then provides investors the opportunity to make maximum returns on their investments as they become “early birds” as far as the development of the sector was concerned. Mr. Aboagye also used the occasion to remind the investors about the local content law within the oil and gas regulations of the country which makes it obligatory for investors to partner with local companies in that direction. The major trade associations such as the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the GNCCI have succeeded in getting the government to allow local companies to participate in the oil and gas sector of the country by compelling foreign investors to partner their local counterparts. Analysts have argued that With the virtual takeover of the mining industry by foreigners mostly without the participation of the local companies, industry is not growing as expected, leaving many unemployed and urged that this should not be repeated in the sector of the newly-found treasure. Mr. Aboagye said the country was poised to use the gas find to help achieve its quest to become the net exporter of the power to the sub-region in particular and reiterated that the opportunities there were obvious enough for potential investors to explore. Mr. Aboagye said the sub-region of West Africa alone had a population of about 300 million and more than twice on the entire continent. “This is enough market size for you to be able to make a lot of profit when you turn your focus on the continent using Ghana as the springboard and gateway into the continent”, he added. He said many investors in the country could attest to the high return on investments which sometimes went up to 30 per cent per annum or more and mentioned in particular the influx of the Chinese as a test case. Mr. Aboagye said: “For a country to enshrine in its statute books that it will not take over foreign-owned companies no matter the situation means, it is investment - friendly and means business”. Mr. Abodakpui, for his part, urged investors from Asia and other areas to turn their eyes from the America and Europe and focus on Africa as a major emerging market. Mr. Adjei Baah said the challenges that confront the country must be seen as opportunities and urged the Malaysians to “come, let us make money and share”. Source: Graphic Business