Local content and participation in Ghana’s oil and gas industry: Can enterprise development make a difference?

Abstract

In 2013, a local content law was passed with the purpose of promoting internal and external linkages between Ghana's oil and gas sector and the broader economy. An Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) was established to enhance the capacity of indigenous Ghanaian firms and promote their participation in the oil and gas industry. This study examines the forms of linkage the EDC project promotes. Drawing on Bourdieu's distinction between social, cultural, economic and symbolic capital, different aspects of and ways of enhancing local entrepreneurial capacity are examined. It finds that the EDC facilitates interaction between local entrepreneurs, officials of state institutions and foreign oil companies, which enhances local entrepreneurs’ knowledge of the oil and gas sector and provides enterprises with an entry point. However, it is argued that only a few well-established medium to large-scale Ghanaian enterprises are able to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the EDC project to expand their operations. The majority of relatively new and small businesses are still unable to gain entry.