President Mahama Unveils Plan to Refine Ghana’s Crude Oil Locally and Boost Industrial Growth
President John Dramani Mahama has announced what he described as a landmark shift in Ghana’s energy policy, declaring that the country will begin refining its own crude oil domestically as part of a broader strategy to industrialise the economy, create jobs and capture greater value from its natural resources.
Speaking at the Ghana Diaspora Town Hall Meeting in London, the President told hundreds of Ghanaians, investors and business leaders that the government had secured the infrastructure and partnerships necessary to process Ghanaian crude at a domestic refinery, with the first shipment expected in June 2026.
“We are about to make history again. We did it during my first term, but after we left office it did not continue,” Mr Mahama said to sustained applause from the audience. “In June, we will deliver a parcel of Ghanaian crude from our own oil fields to a refinery in Ghana for processing.”
The announcement marks a decisive departure from the longstanding model in which Ghana has exported raw crude while importing refined petroleum products at considerable cost — a cycle the President described as one that effectively exports jobs, technology and economic opportunity to other nations.
“Normally we produce the oil and export it. Then we import finished petroleum products or import crude again to refine. That cycle must change,” he stated.
A US$1.5 Billion Foundation
The move builds on a fresh commitment of approximately US$1.5 billion from Italian energy giant ENI in the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) Field to expand both oil and natural gas production. But the President was emphatic that increased output alone would not deliver prosperity. Without domestic processing capacity, he argued, Ghana would continue to cede the most lucrative stages of the petroleum value chain to foreign refiners.
The refining initiative is designed to form part of an integrated petroleum value chain encompassing extraction, refining, storage, petrochemicals, distribution and export. Economic analysts say this approach could reposition Ghana as a competitive industrial hub in West Africa while generating thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
Beyond oil, the President called for value addition across every productive sector of the economy. He pointed to Ghana’s mineral exports — raw gold, manganese, bauxite — as further examples of a model that ships unprocessed materials abroad only to repurchase finished products at a premium.
“When we export raw materials and somebody else processes them, we create jobs in their economy instead of our own. The finished products are then exported back to us. That model cannot deliver sustainable prosperity,” he said.
Diaspora Engagement and Economic Vision
The London event was part of a broader engagement with the Ghanaian diaspora on investment opportunities, industrial policy reforms and the government’s economic transformation agenda. The announcement comes at a time when Ghana is deepening its economic ties with the United Kingdom. The two governments recently launched a new Growth Partnership valued at over £215 million, aimed at creating jobs, strengthening infrastructure and expanding trade — a framework within which the refining initiative could attract further British investment and technical expertise.
The President emphasised that Ghana’s future economic success depends on deliberately moving up the value chain through investments in manufacturing, agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, fertiliser production, petrochemicals, food processing and strategic industrial parks.
If realised, the June delivery of Ghanaian crude to a domestic refinery will be one of the most symbolic economic milestones in the country’s modern history. It signals not merely a technical achievement in the energy sector, but a philosophical commitment to self-reliance, industrial capacity and the belief that Ghana’s natural wealth should generate lasting prosperity for its own people.
Image Source: STARR FM
