Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has called on industry players and private businesses to leverage on the Africa Free Continental Trade Area (AfCFTA) to enhance growth in the petroleum sector of the country and Africa at large.

He said industry players should make use of the new AfCFTA secretariat headquartered in the country to build the right links to grow the sector.

Addressing the 2021 edition of the Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCON), the Vice President stated that the conference was a very good platform to engage stakeholders on how best the continent can grow its economy through the petroleum sector.

“The theme for the conference has come at the right time because AfCFTA has its headquarters here in our country and it is a very good platform for us to use the opportunity to grow our downstream petroleum sector.

“This is a very good call and I urge all of us to take advantage of the opportunity presented to us to grow our economy and the petroleum sector. The government will also contribute its quota for the development of our beloved country,” he added.

The Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCON) is Ghana’s foremost Petroleum Downstream Conference where policymakers, industry operatives and experts converge to deliberate on issues of policy and operations as well as share ideas and experiences.

Previous editions have had physical participants from all over Africa as well as the UK, France, and the UAE in attendance but this year’s edition is being held virtually due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

GhIPCON is designed to actively bring to the fore the petroleum industry’s perspective and guidance on issues of governmental and regulatory policy as well as best practices for the advancement of the industry, not only in Ghana but across the sub-region and beyond.