World Bank gives Ghana $30m for capacity building for oil and gas industry

Ghana’s nascent oil industry is receiving massive support from the global community including the World Bank before commercial production begins this year.

The World Bank in a programme is giving the country an amount of $30 million for training to build capacity for the industry.

The World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Ishac Diwan revealed this at the end of a video conference with the President of the Bank, Robert Zoellick Tuesday February 2, 2010.

Diwan said the Bank was embarking on an “ambitious programme to train Ghanaians in the universities, financial institutions, for taxation and management” to prepare the country to be in a position to manage the oil resources.

Ghana unlike most African countries that have oil did not have the benefit of open and democratic societies, often turning the blessings of oil into an oil curse.

Since the country announced the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in 2007, there have been discussions and debates on the way forward so the country will derive maximum benefits from the oil.

This development has given hope to many observers who believe that the discussions are an opportunity to lead the country to develop a sound plan on how to manage the oil and to avoid the problems that many oil-rich African countries are going through presently.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi