The Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) says it is saving the company US$3 million every month and reinvesting same into other sectors of the company since 2018.
This is made possible by the complete indigenisation of the company; the process of managing the operations, engineering and all other facets of the company by Ghanaians.
“The indigenisation of the operations saw the change in hand of the driving seat of all assets owned by GNGC from SINOPEC to local engineers who had shadowed the Chinese and acquired the expertise in running the installed facilities.
“At a point, the company had about 200 Chinese engineers working at the plant site. This translated into a wage bill of approximately US$3 million in salaries to these foreign counterparts on a monthly basis.
“This colossal savings in the operational expenditure in the company’s finances provided a huge fiscal space for the company to channel such revenue into other productive and strategic areas of the company,” the GNGC said in a statement copied the Ghanaian Times in Accra.
The company was established in 2014 with a loan facility from the China Development Bank and designed and constructed by Chinese company, SINOPEC International.
The facility was to be ran by SINOPEC engineers and understudied by Ghanaian engineers to obtain the necessary hands-on knowledge on operating the plant from their SINOPEC counterparts.
According to the statement, the indigenisation drive, championed by the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Dr Ben Asante, gave birth to an era of opportunities for the young local engineers in the gas industry to position themselves for greater works culmination into employment opportunities for local engineers.
By freeing the wage bill of the Chinese engineers, the GNGC said it has offered about 1,000 jobs to permanent, contracted and casual workers across the length and breadth of the country in the gas value chain.
“The engagement of indigenes in economic activities directly translates into the ability to earn economic gains in the form of salaries and wages and afford them the opportunity to support their livelihood and that of their families.”
The company has also been able to engage in corporate social responsibility projects in communities affected by its operations in the Western, Ashanti and Upper West among other regions.
The company reassured to stick to its principle of safe and efficient gas industry as it aims to expand its operations to serve the Ghanaian people better, reiterating that “the company has chalked lots of successes with these highly motivated young indigenous engineers and technicians”.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
