Safeguarding Ghana’s petroleum supply security remains an urgent national priority due to fuel's foundational role in powering virtually every sector of the economy, National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Chief Executive Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe has affirmed.
Mr Tamakloe described fuel as part of the country’s economic nervous system, arguing that consumers and businesses have few practical alternatives when petroleum products become unavailable.
“Petroleum products are at the core of this economy,” he said on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday.
“When people don’t have light, they can adjust for 24 hours. They can adjust even 12 hours. But when they don’t have petroleum products, they have no alternative.” - Mr Tamakloe
His comments come as Ghana’s downstream petroleum market faces renewed pressure from high international product prices and movements in the cedi.
Imports expose Ghana to external shocks
Ghana depends substantially on imported refined petroleum products. Local supply conditions and pump prices are therefore influenced by developments far beyond the country’s borders.
Mr Tamakloe said managing the sector requires authorities to guard against international shocks while preventing avoidable disruptions within Ghana.
“At the core of the management of the downstream is the whole idea of national security,” he said. “It’s like the nervous system of the entire economy.”
A shortage would not stop at filling stations. Commercial transport, food distribution, construction, farming and industrial production all depend heavily on petrol or diesel.
Lessons from previous fuel queues
The NPA boss recalled fuel queues recorded around 2014 and 2015, saying the disruption was not caused by an absence of products in the country.
“Those queues were internally generated,” he said. “There was, quote, unquote, an artificial shortage of products at the various pumps.”
Mr Tamakloe said that experience reinforced the need to protect the market from domestic distribution problems even when adequate stocks were available.
“Listen, you’re going to handle an industry that is also subject to external issues, but the internal, you must find a way to manage it,” he said.
Three factors shape fuel prices
Mr Tamakloe identified the free-on-board cost of imported products, taxes and the exchange rate as the main variables affecting fuel availability and pricing.
The exchange rate is particularly important because importers require foreign currency to purchase products. A weaker cedi can raise domestic costs even when international prices remain unchanged.
The NPA’s challenge, then, is not merely keeping products at the pumps. It must also manage a market in which overseas prices, local taxes, currency movements and domestic distribution problems can collide within a single pricing window.
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