Spend 70% Of CSR Budgets In W/R

– Regional Minister Tells Oil & Gas Companies

Oil and Gas companies in the Western Region have been called upon to channel not less than 70 percent of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) budgets into the region for the benefit of the indigenes.

The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, who is making the call, has also implored the Ministry of Energy and the Petroleum Commission to include opinion leaders in the region in the development of the plan, as they did with the energy transition plan to ensure that the region is not shortchanged.

The minister, who doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Takoradi constituency, made the call when he delivered a speech at this year’s edition of the Local Content Conference yesterday, Wednesday, 22, in Takoradi.

Mr. Okyere-Darko said the conference offers an opportunity again to assess the performance in the local content programme since its implementation a decade ago against the backdrop of inherent and emerging global challenges.

He was of the firm belief that, the conference will also collectively proffer feasible measures to address these challenges and, additionally, position the sector to contribute to the development of the country, going forward.

He noted that this is critical, especially as nations strive to sustain oil and gas resource exploitation within the limitations of the global energy transition.

The minister further enumerated some of the benefits of the local content policy in the Western Region and indulged the consideration and implications of the Upstream Petroleum Transition Plan on the prospects of the Western Region.

The 2023 Oil and Gas conference, which coincided with a decade of Local Content implementation, wason the theme, “Ten (10) years of Local Content Development in Ghana: Achievements, Prospects, and Challenges in the Era of Energy Transition.”

The conference also offers an opportunity for engagement with stakeholders within the oil and gas sector, as far as government’s policy interventions are concerned.

It is an opportune time to account to the people, the benefits accrued to the region in terms of job creation and services.

Source:Anchorghana.com