A new dawn has emerged in Ghana’s petroleum downstream oil industry as more Ghanaian owned Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are joining the newly incorporated Association of Indigenous Oil Marketing Companies of Ghana (AIOMCG).

According to the coordinators of AIOMCG, Patrick Ekar and Elias Slim Bansi,they have reached out to over 30 indigenous OMCs and more than 15 of them have duly registered as members of the association.

They are confident that many indigenous OMCs will join their association hopefully by the close of year.

“We are going to meet or exceed our membership target soon, Elias Slim Bansi, an interim executive of the association said.

The breakaway group which is now a fully-fledged association has vowed to assist struggling members.

To this end, the group has held an extensive dialogue which is near conclusion with some key banks in the country to provide financial support for struggling OMCs which are members of the association.

“We are poised to protect our members from unfair treatments in the downstream industry. We are also going to champion their interests to enable us beat off the stiff competition from the foreign OMCs”.

Patrick Ekar, an interim executive also emphasised: “we believe that the association will make a huge difference. This is because in the industry many of the OMCs feel sidelined and bullied on issues of greater concern. With this solid leadership, we are always ready to tackle the challenges facing the various indigenous OMCs”.

“We will put in place strong structures and policies as stakeholder so that we can play key part during price increment consultation processes, since we also provide employment for tanker owners, drivers, mechanics , tank fabricators, accountants, administrators etc., just to mention a few”, he adedd.

The executives of the association have also pledged to solidify the bond between AIOMCs and NPA/Energy Ministry.

“We believe we can make a difference as we are bringing on board initiatives and reforms that’ll ensure that our member interests are properly met because the OMC business provides employment to many Ghanaians. If the business terms are unfavorable the firms will suffer”, Mr Ekar explained.

In May this year, the AIOMCG broke away from the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) to be on its own, due to what they describe as the failure of the AOMCs to protect the indigenous Ghanaian OMCs from unfair treatments in the downstream industry.