Emerita Professor Elizabeth Schandorf, the Chairperson of Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has indicated that their findings in the 2023 annual report on the management and use of Petroleum Revenue reported a decline for the fourth consecutive year.

She said production of the commodity dropped from 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to 48.25 million barrels in 2023 representing an annual average decline of 9.2 percent.

The total proceeds from the JOHL lifting received in 2023 amounting to 70, 456.93 dollars were not paid into the Heritage Fund for the second consecutive year while, Surface Rentals owed by International Oil Companies remained high at 2,738,365.29 at the end of 2023.

Emerita Professor Schandorf made this known at a media engagement for journalists drawn from the Western and Central regions in Takoradi.

On allocations and utilisation of Petroleum Revenues, PIAC observed that since 2011, the annual budget funding had been guided by a medium-term plan as against a long-term national development plan.

The 2023 report said, the retention of the current cap of 100 dollars on the Ghana Stabilisation Fund for the year 2023 did not follow the stipulated formula in the Legislative Instrument 2381 since a proper application should have returned a cap of 581.05 dollars instead.

The PIAC report, indicated the need for the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Petroleum Commission to intensify audit of development and production costs in the TEN and other producing fields.

Meanwhile, Media practitioners from the Western and Central Regions queried PIAC on the implementation status of recommendations made since its inception.

The journalists also wondered how the Committee still lacked the power to bite “offending” entities, individuals, and Assemblies in the management of allotted Petroleum revenues for projects.

Mrs Mildred Siabi-Mensah, a journalist with Ghana News Agency called for stronger alliance between PIAC and the state investigative bodies like Office of the Special Prosecutor, CHRAJ and Economic and Organised Crime Office to have PIAC’s recommendations duly investigated, and actions taken.

According to her, though 62 recommendations had been projected since PIAC’s inception, only 37 had been implemented by relevant agencies.

Other journalists expressed concern about how the Committee’s mandate could be reviewed to make them more biting, the factors militating against the smooth decommissioning of the Saltpond oil fields and how the Ministry of Finance seemed to be a problem child of the state as most of the recommendations captured one infraction or another against it.

The PIAC entreated the media, which is part of the committee to ensure exert its role to ensure that duty bearers were accountable to the people Ghana.

Professor Douglas Boateng, a renowned industrial engineer, says the government should make engineers an integral part of the country’s strategic development plan to help speed up economic and social progress.

He said other sectors and professions had roles to play but engineers must lead the charge towards industralisation and long-term development.

He noted that countries like Korea, China, Germany, India, South Korea, and South Africa were “transformed” by engineers, therefore, practitioners in Ghana should take up the challenge.

Prof Boateng was speaking at his inaugural lecture at the Ghana Institution of Engineering on the theme “Engineering, Industrialisation, AfCFTA, and Strategic Sourcing: The Inextricable Links”.

Stressing the importance of industralisation in economic transformation, he urged the government to “revisit its plans and bring engineers into core decision making processes”.

“Ghana can become one of the most industralised countries if we make engineering the core of our long-term development planning…We are very good at putting plans together but very bad at implementing the plans…If we make engineers the core, we can make Ghana the country we desire,” he stated.

Prof Boateng said industralisation was not only about building factories but “every sector of the economy should be industralised with engineers playing a key role.

“The African dream is in our own hands, but we must be confident in our ability to excel… We excel when we go to other countries, but I don’t know why when we come back, the issues that we want to address take so long…it’s because of the lack of our own confidence. The African industralisation drive, I believe, is down to engineers,” he said.

Touching on initiatives such as African Continental Free Area (AfCFTA), he said countries must “think beyond” local borders, and engineers supported to add value to local products to generate more revenue.

Prof Boateng urged African countries to address peculiar challenges like over reliance on imports, adding that policy makers should not be “flattered” by economic indicators put out by international agencies.

He expressed concern over the “slow progress” in Ghana and the African continent, saying it was time to “change lanes” and redirect the path to job creation, industralisation and long-term development.

Highlighting other themes, he called for the establishment of a Ministry of Industralistion, and proposed that the current Trade and Industry Ministry could be modified to attain that mission.

Prof Boateng, also the Board Chair of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), said he would establish an Industralisation Scholarship Fund with seed capital of GH¢ 30,000 to support students who took up industry-relevant engineering projects.

He urged more youth to take up engineering courses and described the lecture series instituted in his honour as “a unique initiative”.

Mr Kwabena Bempong, President, Ghana Institution of Engineering, ranked the maiden lecture series as “a significant milestone in the journey towards excellence and innovation in the field of engineering.”

He praised Prof Boateng for being a “leading voice in the field of engineering”, adding that the lecture series was to “recognise and promote” excellence in the profession, which remained the backbone of industrial and national development.

Professor Douglas Boateng, an Industrialisation and Supply Chain Management expert, says African countries must develop the entire value chain of products and services on the continent if the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiative is to succeed.

The process, which he referred to as “strategic sourcing” meant that individuals must move away from buying “cheap products” from abroad and rather add value to indigenous produce.

That, he said, would help create competitive advantage and reduce over dependence on foreign goods.

Prof Boateng was speaking at an inaugural lecture series held in partnership with the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) on the theme: “Engineering, Industrialisation, AfCFTA and Strategic Sourcing: The Inextricable Links”.

To properly develop the value chain, right from production to consumption, he noted that Africans must desist from exporting the continent’s natural resources in their raw state.

He said the inability to add value to the local resources had led to excessive importation of foreign goods resulting in “huge amounts of money leaving the continent”.

To create a common market as envisioned under AfCFTA, Prof Boateng again called for removal of “artificial borders” between countries to facilitate movement of persons, goods and services across the continent.

He noted that “strategic sourcing” would increase domestic demand, boost local production, empower small and medium-sized enterprises, and create more jobs for the continent.

To that end, he emphasised the pivotal role engineers must play to build Africa’s supply and value chain infrastructure to make the continent a major force in international trade.

Prof Boateng said engineers must be supported to contribute effectively to value addition and problem solving to accelerate industrialisation.

He urged Africans to “plan and think long-term”, adding that AfCFTA must be “more of a continental issue than a national issue”.