Last Thursday, Chinese conglomerate the Sentuo Group launched an oil refinery – now Ghana’s first privately-owned refinery.
Present at that launch was President Akufo-Addo, who said the establishment of the refinery marked a critical step towards non-reliance on foreign petrol imports.
“No longer will we be solely reliant on external sources for fuel. Instead, we will harness our natural resources to fuel our progress. The establishment of this refinery signifies our commitment to reducing this dependence, achieving self-sufficiency, and driving the growth of our domestic petroleum industry,” Nana Akufo-Addo said.
A $2 billion project, the refinery is located in the industrial enclave of Tema, where it would be producing 40,000 barrels of petroleum products daily. By a year, authorities say that would amount to 5 million barrels of crude oil – far beyond what state-owned Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) produces.
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“It will not only provide a stable supply of petroleum products, but will also create jobs and empower local communities to contribute to our industrialisation drive,” Nana Addo added further.
Although the project is enlisted under the government’s One District, One-factory initiative, it was also conceived from the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Development Strategy – an initiative that some analysts say is somewhat of a debt trap for developing nations.
But before the refinery, Sentuo Group had other business interests in Ghana. The firm in 2018 established Fujian Sentuo Ceramic Company Limited, a ceramic tile production company, also under the government’s one district, one factory.
