Actors, networks and assemblages: local content, corruption and the politics of SME’s participation in Ghana’s oil and gas industry

Abstract

Local content policies are relevant policy tools that can ensure that natural resource extraction leads to the social and economic development of countries through local participation. With a focus on Ghana’s local content policy and small and medium-scale enterprises (SME)’s participation, this article highlights the complexities pertaining to the role of natural resource extraction in African economies. This work further reiterates the need to focus on actors, networks and assemblages, and the interrelation between social, material and ideational elements to better understand local participation in the extractive industries. The heterogeneous relations between actors and their constant reconfiguration creates a condition for bifurcated SME’s participation in Ghana’s oil and gas industry.