Head of Corporate Communications at the Ghana National Gas Company, Ernest Owusu Bempah, says the company under the board and leadership of Dr. Ben Asante has chalked a lot of success as a result of meticulous management.
President Akufo Addo on January 30, 2017, appointed Dr. Asante as the acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Gas Company based at Atuabo in the Ellembelle district of the Western Region.
“Since his assumption of office as CEO for a strategic national asset for the country, the board supported him to use competent locals in the operations and management of the company, which saved the country from paying millions of dollars to Chinese nationals and other expatriates who were managing the facility. If you care to know, it took Trinidad and Tobago so many years to indeginise, but under the board and exemplary leadership of the CEO, this has been done in no time. He also realized within the oil and gas sector, Ghana Gas workers were among the least paid, and sought approval from the board to better their conditions of service. The workers salaries were increased from 30-85 percent” he noted.
Mr. Owusu Bempah added that initially, the company had 150 workers, but can now boast of more 650 workers who have diligently been trained in health, safety and environment without recording any major incidents of which the company will soon pay close to 20 million cedis as dividend to the government.
“The company also recently commissioned an ultra modern Gas company at AB Bokazo to be used as an operational office, which was built from scratch; and a project started by the NDC, so Ghana Gas is better off under Dr. Ben Asante” he reiterated.
Mr. Owusu Bempah stated that some of the company’s achievements include two successful tie-ins at Sanzule, which increased production of gas, the completion of the reserve flow project, and massive Corporate Social Responsibility projects in the Western Region and elsewhere among others.
Dr. Ben Asante recently came up for mention as one of the state agency CEOs who have worked hard to re-position their respective state institutions.
Alongside David Asante of Ghana Publishing, Nana Akomea of STC, Maxwell Kofi Jumah of GIHOC Distilleries, they received standing ovation for re-positioning their respective agencies from loss making entities to competitive and profit-making agencies.
The four, at a seminar organised for all Board Chairmen, Chief Executive Officers and Director Generals of State-owned institutions by the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) in the Central Region, were made to present their success stories to the audience of about 200 people.
The presentations captured the state of the companies before their appointments some two years ago, and the progress made so far since their assumption of office.
About Dr. Ben Asante
Dr. Ben Asante has over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry.
He was the technical Director of Ghana’s first Gas Infrastructure project and also developed the gas infrastructure master plan for Ghana in 2008.
He has also served as a consultant to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and provided engineering services, project management and technical support for various projects across the world including UAE, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, Russia, Thailand and USA.
He has worked for major companies including Nova/TransCanada and Enron and Jacobs Engineering.
Dr. Ben Asante is a product of Mfantsipim school and holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering (KNUST, Ghana), and an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada.
He also has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, London /University of Calgary and has taught gas processing and pipeline engineering at Imperial College, UK and KNUST, Ghana.