Nigeria, Sudan, Angola, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad are among the oil producers that have failed to channel their resources into the material improvement of their countries and people. To avoid a similar fate, Ghana enacted a Petroleum Revenue Management Act in 2011. The law created the Public Interest and Accountability Committee, with a mandate to ensure accountability and transparency in the management and use of oil and gas revenue. Although there are several published studies on Ghana’s oil and gas sector, very few have looked at this committee. A recent study provides a nuanced understanding of the successes and failures of this institutional arrangement. A major achievement is its role in legitimising government’s commitment to good governance in Ghana’s oil and gas sector.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION