On 30 July, energy minister Matthew Prempeh – in a 10-page power-point presentation and a rambling thesis on ‘global energy transition’ – asked parliament to borrow $1.6bn to buy back stakes in two offshore oil licences not yet in development.
The minister made a case for Ghana to borrow $1.6bn for onward lending – on commercial terms – to its national oil company, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) so that it can buy higher stakes in two oil blocks operated by two Norwegian companies – Aker Energy and AGM.