Policy analyst Dr. Steve Manteaw has endorsed Ghana’s legislative amendment directing greater oil revenues toward infrastructure development, calling the move economically sound.
Parliament recently approved changes to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), enabling increased allocation of Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) resources to capital expenditure under the government’s “Big Push Agenda.”
Official records confirm the amendment mandates exceeding the statutory 70% minimum of ABFA for productive investments a threshold previously unmet by past administrations.
Dr. Manteaw, Co-Chair of Ghana’s Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, emphasized oil revenues must serve as “seed capital, not pocket money,” citing the Kotoka International Airport’s Terminal 3 as evidence: a $30 million investment under the prior NDC government yielded over $10 million in returns (33% ROI).
“The legal requirement for capital spending was breached consistently before,” Manteaw noted, contrasting historical non-compliance with the current push beyond the 70% benchmark.
He clarified the amendment exclusively affects ABFA allocations, leaving Stabilisation, Heritage, and Sinking Funds untouched.
The policy prioritizes infrastructure and logistics hubs to generate jobs, attract private investment, and reduce import dependence. Manteaw stressed finite resources demand strategic deployment: “Decisions today determine tomorrow’s Ghana.”
This fiscal shift aligns with the Mahama administration’s focus on transformative capital projects under President John Mahama and Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang.
