Ghana is advocating for a unified currency across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) members to facilitate fuel transportation from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and streamline other business dealings.

Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Chairman of Ghana's National Petroleum Authority, shared this proposal during the ongoing OTL Africa Downstream Energy Week in Lagos.

ECOWAS currency for Dangote fuel deals

Abdul-Hamid highlighted that Africa's heavy reliance on the dollar places excessive strain on local currencies, causing them to depreciate.

He noted that Ghana would require dollars to import fuel from the Dangote refinery, just as Nigeria would need dollars to import from Ghana, arguing that this arrangement is impractical.

He said:

"To an extent, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Therefore, we should move to a point whereby we actualise this goal of having a common currency for all of us.It is our demand for dollars to import petroleum products that put pressure on our various currencies. That drives petroleum product prices upwards."

Abdul-Hamid explained that with Nigeria’s shift to a deregulated petroleum market, currency fluctuations would primarily drive petroleum prices, as importers would require more dollars to bring in petroleum products.

On collaboration within the petroleum sector, he emphasised that although ECOWAS member states may have varying political goals, aligning these interests is essential to creating a unified agenda that enables mutual market benefits.

Ghana interested in patronising Dangote Refinery

Abdul-Hamid expressed Ghana's interest in importing fuel from the Dangote refinery once it reaches its 650,000 barrels-per-day production capacity, noting that Nigeria alone would likely not consume the entire output.

According to Reuters, he remarked that this option would be preferable to importing refined petroleum from Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

He further advocated for deeper alliances, suggesting that collaboration should extend beyond petroleum authorities to involve substantial governmental cooperation, aligning petroleum infrastructure as well as fiscal and economic policies.