The Alternative Force for Action (AFA) led by Independent presidential aspirant, Dr Sam Ankrah, has pledged to domesticate oil production as part of a comprehensive strategy to revitalise the economy should he win the 2024 election.

The presidential aspirant holds the view that the time was ripe for successive governments to implement radical and transformative policies to address the country’s pressing economic challenges.

One of these radical transformations he believed was domesticating the oil industry for the benefit of the Ghanaian populace.

“We have listed about 22 transformative projects attached to policies that will turn our economy around. We will domesticate oil production.

“I have said over and over that Ghana is producing twice as much oil than we consume and yet everything we produce at the oil fields is exported to somebody else’s country. It gets refined and they bring it back at a price as high as 2000 per cent of the exported oil,” he said.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse', Dr Ankrah highlighted the inefficiencies of the current system.

In his view, the re-importation of this oil means, “you are importing inflation, you’re depreciating your currency, you’re not creating employment, and you’re not getting access to the by-products that come from oil.

“Everything goes in the raw state and comes back like many other commodities," he added.

To address these issues, he revealed that AFA plans to keep oil production and refining within the country, thus curbing inflation, stabilising the currency, creating jobs, and ensuring access to valuable by-products.

Within the first 90 days of the AFA administration, Dr Ankrah plans to convene a round-table discussion with key oil industry stakeholders.

According to him, they will be presented with the option to build a 200,000-barrel-a-day refinery.

“Our economic situation in Ghana calls for radicalism. Comprehensive, radical, bulletproof policies must be implemented to address our economic issues," Dr Ankrah asserted.

He emphasized that Ghana’s substantial debt requires innovative solutions beyond excessive taxation, which he argued is detrimental to businesses and increases the cost of living.