Ghana’s presidency has directed the Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the Board to discontinue the ongoing negotiation with Decimal Capital Ltd, as a strategic partner for the country’s premier refinery.

Instead, the president wants the Managing Director and the Board to look for a new strategic partner.

Though it is not yet known why the presidency has directed the discontinuation of the deal, what energynewsafrica.com predicts could be the possible reason is the involvement of Mr Asante Berko in the deal.

Mr. Asante Berko was recently arrested in the UK over his alleged involvement with bribes paid to Ghanaian authorities to secure an energy contract for a Turkish company in Ghana when he was working at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Mr. Asante Berko, a former Managing Director of TOR, according to a report by this portal in June 2022, was leading Decimal Capital Ltd, a Kenya-based private limited liability company, to offer financial solutions to a wide variety of individuals and businesses to take over the operations of Tema Oil Refinery.

Before the official announcement by the management of TOR regarding their selection of Decimal Capital Ltd from among several companies as their strategic investor, Mr Asante Berko was holding meetings at the refinery with the Jerry Kofi Hinson-led management of TOR and some staff.

A statement issued by Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) on June 23, 2022, stated that Decimal Capital Ltd had been selected as the new strategic partner for TOR, confirming energynewsafrica.com’s publication.

According to the statement, the deal “was expected to boost the local supply of refined oil products and help stabilise the Ghana cedi, in the face of the ongoing international oil market crisis.

“A local Transactional Advisor has been contracted by TOR to lead the negotiations in formulating the lease agreement, which is expected to be completed over the next three to four weeks.

“The investment partner is expected to provide funding for a first phase, which will bring the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) of TOR back on stream to refine about 45,000 barrels per day in the next few months,” parts of the release stated.

Meanwhile, some staff of the refinery are demanding that President make changes in the management and the Board to bring fresh ideas on board to turn the refinery around.

Source: Energynewsafrica.com