Minister of Public Enterprises Joseph Cudjoe has recounted how funds for the first phase of Ghana’s Petroleum Hub could have been lost if not for an emergency trip he made to Beijing to sign three separate Memoranda of Understanding just hours before the financing guarantee deadline.
Joseph Cudjoe, then the Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of Finance and Infrastructure Development, “Left Ghana on December 19, 2019, and arrived in Beijing at 2 a.m. I had to work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. without break with the project developers for meetings with the Chinese team to secure the funds for the project. In the end, we signed three separate MOUs that unlocked $12 Billion funding for the first phase of the project.”
The private sector-led initiative will be developed by the TCP-UIC Consortium, comprising Touchstone Capital Group Holdings Ltd and UIC Energy Ghana Ltd. The $12 billion earmarked for the first phase will fund a refinery with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), a 90,000 bpd capacity petrochemical plant, 3 million cubic meters (m³) of storage tanks, and a jetty with port infrastructure.
Speaking to journalists on the sides of the groundbreaking ceremony perfomed by President Akufo Addo on Monday, August 18, 2024 in Nawuli, in the Jomoro Municipality of the Western Region, to pave the way for the poject to commence, Joseph Cudjoe paid tribute to several individuals he worked tirelessly with “when it was only a cabinet memo to refer to,” ensuring that the Petroleum Hub became a reality.
“Boakye Agyarko, then Energy Minister, brought a memo on the project to me and asked that I work on it. As a consultant, I used my expertise to set things in motion and develop it. This led to the inauguration of a committee, the Petroleum Hub Taskforce, which I co-chaired with Hon. Amin Adam, who was then Deputy Minister of Energy, in charge of Petroleum. But there was a lack of interest, so I put together some technical people from the Ministry of Energy. By then, the Finance Ministry had assigned Charles Owusu, the current Managing Director of Petroleum Hub to the committee, and he was very energetic and enthusiastic about the project just like the others I put together at the Energy Ministry. We had Jacob Amoah, Nancy, Obed and Lawyer Yankson who were very driven and dedicated to support my effort at ensuring that the petroleum hub project succeeds. Then there was Ken Kanyagui, who was also a blessing to the project, as he was introduced as the one putting together a group of investors.”
Hon Cudjoe recalled how his zeal and passion for moving the Petroleum Hub from a concept to a reality earned him the nickname “Mr. Petroleum Hub,” as “it was like I didn’t have any interest apart from this hub project,” which became an obsession.
It was also because of the enormity of the vision the memo from President Akufo Addo carried and communited, which saw him work his socks off.
“A $60 billion investment, wherever it goes in Ghana, is significant, but as soon as Western Region came up as a prospective and potential destination, I was energized to go beyond myself.”
The Jomoro Petroleum Hub is likely to stand as one of the most significant legacy projects of President Akufo Addo and Joseph Cudjoe expressed his elation that the numerous late nights work and trips to meet traditional leaders and the people of Nzema have “borne fruits that will outlast all of us present at this groundbreaking ceremony.”
“I’m also excited today because the name I proposed, Jomoro Petroleum Hub Development Corporation, which initially failed, has now been proposed by the President himself. I thought this was a significant legacy project the President is leaving, and if it’s for a people, a district so delineated and special, then it should be called Jomoro Petroleum Hub Development Corporation.”
