Corporate governance and ethics are key in contract award decisions. But data available to the Petroleum Commission and feedback from tender evaluations show that most Indigenous Ghanaian Companies (IGCs) fall short in meeting expectations in that area.

Hence, their difficulty in winning contracts.

To address this challenge, Ghana’s upstream together with Tullow Ghana has held a capacity-building programme christened 'Ghana Upstream Petroleum Business Academy'.

Participating companies were sensitized on some ethical issues they need to appreciate in the areas of bribery and corrupt practices that are a breach of Ghana’s laws and international best practices.

Issues relating to the composition of the company’s board with people that are considered to be politically exposed, labour practices that conflict with Ghana’s laws, and unethical financial practices amongst others were discussed.

Chief Executive of the Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibille Jnr who delivered the welcome address said it was important to “avert the minds of companies in the sector to ethical issues and enhancing good corporate governance”. This he believes will build sustainable brands that stand the test of time.

Wissam Al-Monthiry, Managing Director of Tullow Ghana which collaborated with the Petroleum Commission for the training programme was hopeful the capacity building would not only make indigenous Ghana companies highly competitive for Tullow bids, but a supplier of choice according to global standards in the oil and gas industry.

Al-Monthiry indicated Tullow’s Ghana Value Maximization Plan when fully   executed, will see a further $4bn investment in its operations over the next ten years, which will lead to more activities and increase in production.

 “That means more suppliers and more supply volume requirements”, he added.

According to the Petroleum Commission, a series of modules covering various topics of interest to the industry have been lined as part of the Upstream Petroleum Academy programme in 2021.