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The Group Chairman of M& C Group Global, Mr Michael Bartlett-Vanderpuye, has called on the government to broaden its engagement with major stakeholders in the extractive industry to get their buy-in before rolling out the “gold–for-oil” initiative.
According him, the initiative was a great one with the potential to redeem the country from the incessant rising cost of fuel; however, its implementation must be done in a more transparent and all-encompassing manner to ensure sustainability.
“The decision by the government to experiment with this option is very laudable, but I will caution that it will be rolled out within the next two to three years. This enable extensive consultation with all stakeholders including, players in the extractive industry, political actors, civil society organisations and others to ensure that it becomes a national policy,” he emphasised.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times on the sidelines of the inauguration of the company’s ultra-modern head office complex and corporate attire in Accra yesterday, Mr Vanderpuye said the success or otherwise of the initiative would largely depend on the country’s accumulation of gold reserves.
He said it would be prudent to use the first two years in consultations while building the country’s gold reserve to serve as a strong backbone for the initiative in the short to medium term and then consider the country owning its own mines to ensure sustainability.
“Without this, the initiative may run into challenges because in a situation where the mining companies decide to withdraw the selling of 20 per cent of their production to us,” he emphasised.
Touching on his company’s operations, he said the inauguration of new head office complex was to enable the company accommodate new portfolios under its umbrella.
He said 15 years in operation had been a mixture of both successes and challenges, however, they continued to chalk many successes.
From just a consultancy firm, we now have 15 companies under our umbrella and their performances in the world of businesses are an epitome of success,” he said.
Mr Vandepuye noted that currently his group prided itself with a sizeable number of research and information professionals working to fulfill its business dreams in all its 15 companies.
The companies he listed them as minerals and food commodity trading, gold export and refining, general trading and logistics, real estate development and property management, general procurement, manufacturers’ representatives, management consultancy, trade finance and project finance, energy and energy related services.
