“It is about time Ghana realised that it is not going to work for government to be involved in setting up companies. It does not work,” he said. The Asantehene said the government should allow the private sector to do business and set up industries.

“Government should be content with policies and the private sector should be involved in setting up industries. It works that way and, therefore, it would attract more investments into the country and create more employment,” Otumfuo Osei Tutu stressed.

Plant

At the inauguration of the Genser Energy Plant at Anwomaso in the Oforikrom Municipality yesterday, the Asantehene said it was time the government diversified the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and other similar government establishments to allow the private sector to take over and enable the country to get money from it.

The Genser project is a network of pipelines of about 430 kilometres, with 23 natural gas stations.  The network is divided into three phases: BP01, PP01 and PP02.

The main supply of natural gas starts from the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) at Prestea Regulating and Metering Station (PRMS). The first phase spans from Prestea through Tarkwa and Damango and ends at the Golden Star Resource and Wassa Mine.

The second phase stretches from Prestea through Gyegyetreso to Manukrom. The pipeline also has a Branch Point Station (BPS) between Prestea and Gyegyetreso at Humjibre.  

From Humjibre BPS, the pipeline extends to Chirano, where there is a Regulating and Metering Station (RMS), with the third phase moving from Gyegyetreso to Anwomaso in the Ejisu Municipality in the Ashanti Region.

The phase three pipeline network (PP02) is 110 km in length and consists of five gas stations. 

Diversification

Otumfuo Osei Tutu said the country had not been able to manage those establishments and if diversified, “they would employ the right people”.He asked: “Why are we still holding on when we do not have the money?”.

“We are hanging on to industries that we cannot maintain and run,” he added. Otumfuo Osei Tutu said it was time the country faced realities and decided on what the government and the private sector should be doing.

The Asantehene said the establishment of the Genser Energy Plant was an evidence of private sector investment but rued the challenges the company had to go through before bringing the plant to the Ashanti Region.

He commended the management of Genser Energy and the Ministry of Energy for the collaboration, leading to the execution of the project.

Support

The Board Chairman of Genser Energy, Nana Otwasuom Osae Nyampong VI, said it was important the government shunned any form of inertia and “rather facilitate the use of private capital to develop this country”.

“Indeed, it would be prudent for the government to re-evaluate any project which private capital does not consider bankable,” he added. Nana Nyampong posited that whenever the government signed any agreement which stipulated that the contract law to be any other law which was foreign to the Ghanaian legal code, “it presupposes that there is no faith in our own laws or legal system”.

He added that in Ghana, there were those who were of the view that the government should be the provider of all things, including jobs and even housing. “But I don’t think this should be the case. It behoves on all of us to expunge this notion and rather facilitate private enterprise to develop this beautiful country of ours,” Otwasuom Nyampong urged.

He said the commissioning of the plant was palpable evidence of “what private endeavour can do and has done as against the inability of government entity to achieve”. The Board Chairman of Genser Energy, however, said the government entities were necessary for regulatory and monitoring purposes. 

The stations

Three of the stations are Block Valve Stations (BVSs) located at Miawano, Ntinako and Adwafo. The other two stations are a Regulating Point Station (RPS) located at Gyegyetreso and a Branch Metering Station (BMS) at Anwomaso.

The nominal pipe size used for PP02 is 24 inches with a schedule of 40, making it the biggest Genser pipeline yet.